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LIEUTENANT KENNETH GOW. 



Letters of a Soldier 



LIEUT. KENNETH GOW, D. S. C, 

Machine Gun Co., 107th U. S. Infantry, 

**7th Regt., N.G.N. Y. *H^ 

Killed in Action Oct. 17, 191 8. 

Introduction by 
CAPT. KENNETH C. WILSON 

107th U. S. Inf., 
Ex. M. G. Co., 7th Regt., N.G.N. Y. 

27TH Division, U. S. A. 



Published by 

Herbert B. Covert 

111 Broadway, New York 






COPYRIGHTED, 1920, by E. M. GOW 



All Eights Reserved 



'M 1 1 iS20 ^ 



©C1,A601925 



To 
LIEUT.-COL. KENNETH GARDNER, 

105th M. G. Battalion, 27th Division, U. S. A., 
Ex-Captain M. G. Co., 107th Inf., 

Commanding Officer, Comrade and Friend of the 
Writer of these Letters, 

This Volume is Dedicated. 



FOREWORD 

Our people have justifiable pride in the character of 
our army which fought in the World War. The character 
of that army was truly great, and worthy of the great 
cause in which it served. Its character, however, was 
great and noble only because of the high individual purpose 
and character of the men who composed it. 

The mass of the people realize in a general way the worth 
of the men who made up the American Army ; but in the 
book "Letters of a Soldier" the public will have opportunity 
to appreciate in intimate manner the moral and military 
standards of a soldier of the 27th Division who was repre- 
sentative of the best in that army, and who gave up his life 
in the Battle of the La Selle River, France, October 17th, 
1918. 

The ''Letters of a Soldier" were written by First 
Lieutenant Kenneth Gow, of the Machine Gun Company, 
107th Infantry, 27th Division, to members of his family. 
This officer in many respects was typical of that finest type 
of young manhood which for many years constituted the 
brains and heart of the New York National Guard Division. 
Lieutenant Gow served the period of the Mexican Border 
Service as a private, corporal and Sergeant in the 7th New 
York Infantry. His letters cover many interesting features 
of that service. Later, as a non-commissioned officer and 
commissioned officer of the same regiment in the World 



viii FOREWORD 

War, he continued to write and send to members of his 
family letters descriptive of his experiences. Because 
these letters were written in intimate fashion to his family, 
without thought that they would ever be published, their 
interest and value are intensified. 

The book is commended not only to the officers and men 
of the 27th Division, but to all who would view in intimate 
fashion the character and life of a very gallent soldier, who 
gave up that life in the service of his country. 

JOHN F. O'RYAN 

Major General, 
27th Division, U.S.A. 



CONTENTS 

LETTERS. 



V\ E 

I: Traveling by Troops Transport Train. — The Reception at Harrisburg. — 

Probable Destination. — His First Promotion 27 

II: In the Southwest, En Route. — Impressions Gathered on the Way 30 

III: The Arrival at McAllen. — Pitching Camp 32 

IV: The Black Belt of Texas. — San Antonio. — Making Camp. — Making 
Acquaintance with the Flora and Fauna of the Border. — An Impressive 
Religious Service 33 

V: The Fourth of July in Camp. — In Hostile Country. — The Transfor- 
mations Caused by a Military Life 37 

VI: Letter-Writing Under Difficulties. — Scorpions, Tarantulas, Heat, Rain 
and Thirst. — Mules and How to Restore Lost Ones. — National Guard 
Becomes U. S. Army 39 

VII: Rain and Drill. — A Visit to Hidalgo. — Wants and Needs. — Errone- 
ous Reports in Press. — Texas Mud 43 

VIII: The Weather Becomes Fine. — Regiment Gaining Proficiency. — Ex- 
terminating Vermin. — Camp Best Place to Learn to Care for One's 
Health. — Very Comfortable, But Don't Mention String Beans 47 

IX: Learning Mule. — "Some" Food Furnished, But Comforts Have to be 
Bought. — Friends at Home Remembering the Men. — Knocking Wood.. 51 

X: A Welcome Gift from Summit. — Flooded Out. — A Theoretical Night 
Attack. — A Refractory Mule 54 

XI: The Comfort of a Good Smoke. — Sandstorm and Rainstorm. — An 
Incursion of Frogs. — A Description of McAllen.— More to Eat Now Than 
They Can Get Away With 57 

XII: Sandstorms and Heat. — The Watch on the Border. — Mess Arrange- 
ments 60 

XIII: Hiking. — Revolver Practice. — Some Natural History. — A Texas 
Farm. — Fine Skirmishing Country. — McAllen and Its Saloons. — The Mexi- 
can Bird Scavenger 62 

XIV: Flooded Out. — No Sunday in Camp. — Building Roads. — Reviewed by 
a Mexican General. — Reporters Chased. — Y. M. C. A. in the Field. — 
Band Concerts and Shows 67 

XV: Prospects of Return. — What They May Have to Face in Mexico. — 
Heat and Hard Riding. — Clothes Allowance 71 

XVI: Camp Dysentery and Its Treatment. — A Texas "Norther." — Good 
Points 01 a Dry Atmosphere. — Weeding Out the Physically Unfit 75 

XVII: Breaking Mules. — Fine Care During Illness. — Praise of the Y. M. 
C. A 77 

XVIII: Camp Conditions and Food. — Misleading Reports. — The Field 
Hospital Defended. — Business Friends 80 

ix 



X CONTENTS 

PAGE 

XIX: The Great Hike. — Another Texas Storm. — A Mule Ride. — Pay 
System "Considerable of a Puzzle" 83 

XX: The Regiment Beats the Record on the March. — Sterling Ranch. — 

Supply Train Doing Good Service 85 

XXI: On Hike 87 

XXII: The Seventh as Marchers. — A Sportsman's Paradise. — Itinerary of 
the Big Hike. — Some Lemon ! 87 

XXIII: A "Howling" Wilderness. — Coyotes. — Inspections. — Climate Now 
Beginning to Feel Fine 90 

XXIV: Ordered to Harlingen. — $15 a Month Does Not Go Far. — Doctoring 
Mules. — Convinced of the Benefit of Military Training. — Very Comfort- 
able in Camp 92 

XXV: Divisional Manoeuvres. — The Flccded Reads. — Health of Division 
Remarkable 95 

XXVI: Furlough at Corpus Christi.— The Seventh Praised by Gen. 
Parker. — Ford Cars Not Suitable fcr the Border Country. — "The Rio 
Grande Rattler" 96 

XXVII: The March to Harlingen. — The Camp There. — Machine Gun 
School. — Wild Game Plentiful. — The Coyctes and Wildcats. — A Horse 
and Mule Stampede. — Some Harlingen History. — Undesirable Reptile 
and Insect "Citizens." — San Benito. — The Seventh's "Pull" Imaginary. — 
Thoughts of Home 100 

XXVIII: Good Sport at Harlingen. — Made Corporal and Gunner After 

Training and Competitive Test. — Jiggers 107 

XXIX: Never Better in Health.— A Word About a "Bunkie."— Made 
Permanent Gunner.— The Test Passed 109 

XXX: Back at McAllen Camp. — The Machine Gun Co. Gets an Ova- 
tion. — The Texas Rangers 110 

XXXI : Souvenirs. — Personal Matters 112 

XXXII: A Hike on the Ties. — Praise for the Company. — The Barnegat 
"Log" Appreciated. — Thinking of the Opera. — Stable Sergeant. — Talks 
About "I" with Apologies 113 

XXXIII: A Comrade's Promotion. — Lots of Game. — New Riding Seat 

Being Learned. — The Company Rated "Excellent" 116 

XXXIV: Voting by Proxy.— Anxious to Cast Ballot 118 

XXXV: Solicitous about Ballot. — Promoted to be Stable Sergeant.— Duties 
of the Position. — The Equitation School. — Views of ihe International 
Situation. — Reduction of the Regiment. — The Fruit Harvest 120 

XXXVI: The Company's Good Work at Harlingen.— The Regiment's Good 
Discipline Record. — The Seventh's Pester Stamp. — The Company Menu. 
— Shoeing the Mules. — Capturing Smugglers 123 

XXXVII: An "Order" From the Ordnance Department 126 

XXXVIII: Voting in Camp. — Going on Border Patrol. — Reaps Fruit of 
Former Work. — The Riding Class.- — Moonlight Brilliance and Sand- 
storms 127 

XXXIX: Ordered Home.— A Cold Spell, But a Happy Camp 130 

XL: Ready to Move.— Leeking Forward to the March Up Fifth Avenue.. 131 



CONTENTS 



XI 



PAGE 

XLI: En Route to Spartanburg, S. C— Men Well Taken Care Of 136 

XLII: En Route to Camp Wadsworth 137 

XLIII: The First Day in Camp. — Clearing Ground and Grubbing Stumps. 140 

XLIV: Spartanburg, Its People and the Surrounding Country 142 

XLV: The Seventh to be a "Base" for the 107th.— Negro Singing.— In- 
digestion and Sore Throat Epidemic 145 

XLVI: Dress Regulations. — Hot Days and Cold Nights 147 

XLVII: The lGi7th Infantry Formed. — Training to Be a Corker. — A Fine 
Country to Learn Machine Gun Tactics 149 

XLVIII: Throat Trouble Bad. — "Die Meistersinger" in Camp. — Most Men 
"Flat Broke" 151 

XLIX: Teaching One's "Betters." — "Gen. O'Ryan Out to Make Soldiers." 
— General Orders No. 1 154 

L: Training Started in Earnest. — The First Sergeant's Strenuous Job. — 
Didn't Know What Work Was While in Texas 158 

LI: A Stiff Schedule. — No Time for Nonsense. — An Immense Camp 160 

LII: Rain and Mud. — The Mess. — Immense Supplies Being Brought In.. 161 

LIII: Bracing Weather and a Practice March. — Inoculation. — Kindness of 
the Men of the Company. — Merit Bound to Win, So Not Much to 
Worry Over 163 

LIV: Their Last Review as the Seventh. — The Bayonet Manual. — The 
Best-Situated Camp in the Country. — Demoralizing the Chaplain. — Good 
Work of the Y. M. C. A 165 

LV: Turns Down an "Office" Commission. — An Enjoyable Trip to Hen- 
dersonville. — Intensive Training Exacts All One's Time. — First Ser- 
geant's Job No Sinecure 168 

LVI: Regiment Loses Only One Officer 173 

LVII: Digging Trenches. — Every Man Allowed to Transfer to Where He 
Will Be of Most Use 174 

LVIII: Decides to Stick With the Regiment. — Appreciation of the Men 

Who Entertain the Others After Hard Days of Drill and Work 175 

LIX: The Best-Disciplined Division in the Army 177 

LX: A Welcome Visit From Friends. — Return of the Captain. — First Ser- 
geant's Job Man-Size. — The Personnel of the Reorganized M. G. Co. — 
A Cosmopolitan Roster 1 78 

LXI: Cold Weather and Discomfort. — Hard Work and Long Hours 180 

LXII: Details of a First Sergeant's Work. — Recommended for a Com- 
mission. — Getting Hardened Up 181 

LXIII: "Everlastingly" Cold. — The Pleasures of Cross-Country Rides.... 185 

LXIV: Christmas Furloughs. — Horseback Riding Only Recreation 187 

LXV: Bayonet Drill. — Collecting for Thanksgiving Dinner 188 

LXVI: Eliminating Undesirables 190 

LXVII: The Strenuous Bayonet Class Work 190 

LXVIII: Welcome Visitors in Camp.— Training for Trench Warfare 192 



xii CONTENTS 

PAGE 

LXIX : Thanksgiving Dinner in Camp 193 

LXX : Fear of Losing the Captain 194 

LXXI: The M. G. Co. on Guard for the First Time 195 

LXXII: A. W. O. L. and Its Consequences. — Apprehension in Regard to 
Losing the Captain. — The Path of Duty Not Always Plain 196 

LXXIII: Furloughs in Prospect.— Cold Weather for Trench Duty 201 

LXXIV: Inspection in a Blizzard in the "Sunny" South. — Great Prepa- 
rations for Celebrating Christmas. — Their British Army Instructors.... 202 

LXXV: Preparing for Furlough. — A Frost-Stricken Camp 206 

LXXVI: Pay Comes Quicker Than Expected 207 

LXXVII: There's Many a Slip 207 

LXXVIII: More Men and More Work 208 

LXXIX : Christmas Presents 209 

LXXX: A "Thousand" Things to Do on Furlough 210 

LXXXI : "Nose- Wipes."— More Transfers 211 

LXXXII: Furlough Assured 212 

LXXXIII: The Great Try-Out of Military Training. — Watching the Axe 
Fall. — Experience Gives Confidence 213 

LXXXIV: Back in Camp After Furlough 215 

LXXXV: Examination by Gen. O'Ryan 216 

LXXXVI : At the Machine-Gun School 217 

LXXXVII: Physical Examination Passed 218 

LXXXVIII: With the Machine Guns on the Range 219 

LXXXIX: Commissioned in the Old Seventh Way 220 

XC: Getting Equipped as an Officer. — Confinement to Camp by Quarantine 
and Impassable Roads. — A "Seventh" Welcome to the New Officer 221 

XCI: Satisfaction in Being Commissioned from the Ranks 223 

XCII: Mostly Financial 224 

XCIII: "Gassed" as Part of Training 226 

XCIV: Tested Out at the Range.— Officers Working Very Hard 227 

XCV: A New Horse and an Exciting Ride. — The First Member of the 
Old M. G. Co. Gives His Life in Battle 229 

XCVI: Mimic Trench Warfare as Carried Out at Camp Wadsworth 231 

XCVII: Expense of an Officer's Outfit. — A Scarcity of Officers in the Com- 
pany. — The Horses and Mules 233 

XCVIII: Canadian Instructors Liked. — French Instructors Liked and Ad- 
mired. — English Instructors Antagonize Men 236 

XCIX: Officers Have to Pay Income Tax. — Driving Hard in Training 
Work 237 

C: The Company Loses Its Captain at Last. — End of Training Period in 
Sight 239 



CONTENTS xiii 

PAT.F. 

CI : Military Orders Disregard Sentiment 241 

CII: Looking Forward to a Visit From His Family 242 

CIII : Forty Feet Underground 243 

CIV: The Advantage of Buying from the Govt.— Square and Cube Root. — 
A Hike in the Woods.— Prefers Field Work to Office Work 244 

CV: "You Know Me, Al" Coming to New York 246 

CVI: On the Range 246 

CVII: A Real Barrage Drill 248 

CVIII: Excellent Shooting at Unseen Targets.— A Wild Ride.— The Math- 
ematics Exam. — The Beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains. — Moonshine Stills 
and Indian Relics 250 

CIX: The Last Letters from Camp W.— Orders to Leave 256 

CX : On the Eve of Embarkation 261 

CXI: On Board Ship 261 

CXII: At Sea in a German Ship. — Enjoying Comforts Provided for Quite 
Another Kind of Passengers 262 

CXIII : Going to War de Luxe 264 

CXIV: En Voyage 265 

CXV: The Arrival. — Fascinated by the Novel Scenes. — American Prodi- 
gality. — Doughboy French 266 

CXVI : The Beauties and Wonders of Brest 268 

CXVII: Airing their French. — A Proof of the Efficiency of the Navy.— 

Telling the Name of the Transport 273 

CXVIII: Admiration for France and the French 275 

CXIX : The Great Work Done by the Y. M. C. A 278 

CXX The Officers' Club at Chatillon, Established and Maintained by the 
Y. M. C. A. — A Musical Evening. — Praise for the Y. M. — Veterans' 
Parades in the Future 279 

CXXI: A Memorial Service on Decoration Day. — A Dinner with Friends 
from Home 283 

CXXII: The French People and the Y. M. C. A. Again Commended 285 

CXXIII: Hard Work at the Chatillon School 287 

CXXIV: A Military and Athletic Tournament. — Gecrges Carpentier. — 
Lectures by Officers of Highland Regiments. — Exams 288 

CXX V : Receives Letters from Home 290 

CXXVI: "Sunny" France Shows Another Side. — Going to the Flanders 
Front. — The Last Word in Machine Guns. — Getting Better Acquainted 
with the Britisher 291 

CXXVII: Nearing the End of the School Course 293 

CXXVIII: Burrowing Like a Mole. — Unearthing Fossils 295 

CXXIX: Clothing Required by Orders Now Found Useless — Fifty Pounds 
of Baggage Only. — Cherry Time 296 



xiv CONTENTS 

CXXX: Chasing the Division. — Beautiful but Devastated France. — The 
Inconceivable Panorama of War. — A Gathering of the Nations 297 

CXXXI: Toasting the Fourth.— Practical Joking With Serious Results.. 300 

CXXXII: Rejoins His Company. — Attentions from "Fritz." — Every Ameri- 
can Proud of His Country. — Comfortable and No Cooties 303 

CXXXIII: Getting Into Harness Again. — Regiment Quite Spread 305 

CXXXI V: The People Quick to Understand and Patient Under the 
"Slaughter" of Their Language. — Pleased vi'ith His Horse. — Baggage and 
Outfit Recovered 307 

CXXXV: The Grid System Explained.— A Thousand Things to Tell 
About, "If I Ever Get Back" 310 

CXXXVI: An Aerial Combat. — A Summons to Appear Before the British 
Chancery Court ' 313 

CXXX VII: The Low Country and Its Bogs. — Navigating the Transport. — 
Vile Beer and Worse Water. — A Typical French Farm 315 

CXXXVIII: Detached on Range Work.— On British Rations 318 

CXXXIX: About Water, Wine and the Y. M. C. A 320 

CXL: A Stirrup Note 322 

CXLI : Hiking 323 

CXLII: A French Home. — Agricultural Operations. — A Division Show at 
the Front 324 

CXLIII: How it Feels to be Under Fire 327 

CXLIV: At the Front and Running the Transport 329 

CXLV: Running the Transport Under Fire 330 

CXLVI : From the Trenches 332 

CXLVII: Learn or Die. — American Rifle Fire Surprises the Germans. — 
Queer Freaks of Exploding Shells. — Recommended for Promotion 333 

CXLVIII: Running the Transport in Darkness, Fog and Shell-Fire. — The 
Tales of Romance Surpassed 336 

CXLIX: A Tribute to the British.— The Bagpipers.— The Scottish Regi- 
ments. — Narrow Escapes. — The Progress and Prospects of the War. — 
An Offensive Attack 338 

CL: Back for Much-Needed Rest.— A Cootie Hunt 347 

CLI: Rated Good by Training School.— A Thirty-six Hours' Leave.— Wet 
Weather and Mud Have Their Advantages 349 

CLII: On a Big Farm.— War Within a Few Miles Seems Impossible 353 

CLIII: Pleads a Previous Engagement. — High Living on a French Farm. — 
Promotion Postponed 354 

CLIV: Describes Transport Work. — Victory Not Yet in Sight. — Praise for 

French and British. — The Indiscriminating Cootie 357 

CLV: Treatment of American Soldiers in England 366 

CLVI : A New Officer in the Company 367 

CLVII: Two Birthdays Contrasted.— Mail.— Seeing France.— Tommy At- 
kins, His Officers and His People 369 

CLVIII: The Division Makes a Big Move to a New Area 373 



CONTENTS XV 

PAGE 

CLIX: Photos. — In a Down Country. — The Division's Dramatists 374 

CLX: Discusses the War. — ^Troubles of the Transport Animals. — The 
Division Makes Terremesnil a Spotless Town 376 

CLXI : Matters in General 379 

CLXII: French Farming and French Landscapes. — His Captain 381 

CLXIII : Resting by Working Hard 383 

CLXIV: A Brief Message .. 384 

CLXV: On a New Front.— A Devastated Country.— The Eve of a Great 
Battle 385 

CLXVI : The Post of Danger the Post of Honor 389 

CLXVII : After the Battle 390 

.CLXVIII: The Brave But Ruthless Hun.— Heroes of the M. G. Co 393 

CLXIX: Feeling Lonely 396 

CLXX: Some News of the Company Personnel. — Division Underwent the 
Acid Test and Failed Not 396 

CLXXI: No Peace Desired Until Complete Victory — Chasing the Hun.. 399 

CLXXII: Scathless Through Many Perils. — The French Refugees. — The 
Toils and Difficulties of Transport in the Wake of the Retreating Boche. 401 

CLXXIII: Written Under Fire.— Wants a Fight to the Finish.— A Pre- 
monition 405 



MISCELLANEOUS 

Prefatory Note 1 

The Seventh Infantry 3 

Some Official Commendations of the 27th Am. Division 12 

Roll of Honor, Machine-Gun Co., 7th Inf 15 

Military Record of Kenneth Gow 16 

Mexican Border Service 25 

Off for the Border 27 

Training Period, Camp Wadsworth 133 

Order Sending the Seventh to Camp Wadsworth 135 

General Orders No. 1 155 

Service in Flanders and France 259 

Letters From France 261 

The Practising Pipers at Fins 345 

Up With the Rations 363 

A Soldier's Burial 408 



xvi CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Letter from Gen. O'Ryan 411 

Tributes from Comrades and Friends: 

From Sergt. Chas. W. Veitch 415 

From Thomas C. Janson 420 

From Lieut. Paul Helmuth Gadebusch 427 

From Major Walter Gresham Andrews 429 

From Father Peter E. Hoey 432 

From Sergt. John C. Latham 434 

From Sergt. Alan L. Eggers 434 

From Lieut. John McK. Palmer 435 

From Lieut. Oscar Gellette 437 

From Mr. W. Henry Grant 438 

From The Hewitt Press 440 

From Rev. Walker Gwynne, D.D 441 

From Mayor Ruford Franklin 445 

From George B. Harper 446 

Service in Memory of Kenneth Gow 447 

Sermon at Memorial Mass for Officers and Men of the 107th Infantry Who 

Made the Supreme Sacrifice 452 



ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS 

PAGE 

Seventh Regiment Coat of Arms 3 

Seventh Regiment Armory 4 

The Twenty-seventh Division's Actions in Flanders 8 

The "Gray Jacket" Uniform 9 

Actions of Twenty-seventh Division at Hindenburg Line and Afterwards... 11 

Germans Captured by the Twenty-seventh Division, Peronne, Oct. 5, 1918. . 13 

Distinguished Service Cross 23 

Poster-stamp of the Seventh 25 

Seventh Regiment Border Medal 28 

Officers of the Seventh 31 

Milton's Seven-Foot Rattlesnake 35 

Wash Day 38 

Building an Incinerator 40 

Semi-Weekly Clean-Up of Quarters 41 

The Rio Grande , 44 

Cleaning Up Under Tents 48 

Able to Do a Day's Work 50 

Training Mules 52 

Breast-Works 55 

Trench Digging 58 

The Picket Line 61 

Burning the Picket Line 63 

Third Squad, M. G. Co., Seventh Inf 68 

Capt. Kenneth Gardner Riding Through Cacti 73 

Breaking a Green Mule (Billie) to the Pack 78 

At the Picket Line 79 

K. Gow on Horse S3 

On the Skyline 84 

The Shower-Bath at Sterling Ranch 86 

On the March Between Laguna Secca and Young's Ranch 88 

A 4 i/o -lb. Lemon 89 

Preparing for Saturday's Inspection 91 

Sergts. Jetter and Harry 94 

xvii 



xviii ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS 

PAGE 

Marooned — -The Hidalgo Road After a Rain 95 

Kenneth Gow and Billy Tailer 91 

Seventh Regt. Encampment at Mission 98 

Pack Mules on the March 101 

K. Gow on Horse 106 

Third Squad Gun-Crew in Firing-Pit 107 

Wm. H. Tailer 109 

Lts. Wilson and Willis 114 

The Stable Sergeant 115 

K. Gow on Horse 117 

Sergt. Gow Doctoring "Pendy's" Abscess 121 

Lt. Harry, Capt. Gardner and Sergt. Gow 124 

Stable Sergt. K. Gow 129 

The Border Service Medal 132 

27th Division Shoulder Insignia 133 

First Platoon, M. G. Co., 7th Infantry 138 

Erecting Tents 141 

"I Am to Make a Bee-Line for Those Mountains" 144 

Second Platoon, M. G. Co., 7th Infantry 146 

Third Platoon, M. G. Co., 7th Infantry 150 

Summit (N. J.) Boys in M. G. Co., 107th Infantry 152 

Mail Time at Tent of First Sergeant 158 

Tents of 107th U. S. Infantry, Camp Wadsworth 162 

In the Blue Ridge Mountains — "The Land of the Sky" 170 

Trench Section, Camp Wadsworth 174 

Sergts. Gow and Gadebusch 182 

Capt. Kenneth Gardner and First Sergt. Kenneth Gow 186 

K. Gow on Horse 188 

Major Sharp, British Army 189 

Class in Bayonet Drill 191 

Capt. Kenneth Gardner 198 

Digging Out After a Snowstorm in the "Sunny South" 203 

Captain Dean, British Army 205 

A Visitor in Camp 216 

Gas-Mask Class , .; 219 

Lt. Gow Range-Finding. 227 

Lt. Wm. H. Tailer .'.'. . 230 



ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS xix 

PAGE 

Lt. Gow and His House at Camp Wadsworth 234 

Lt. Harry and the House in Camp Wadsworth He Shared with Lt. Gow. . 236 

A Consultation with French Officers 239 

Lt. Kenneth Gow, Camp Wadsworth 244 

Glassy Rock Mountain, S. C 247 

Range-Finding on Unseen Target 251 

"These Wonderful Mountains" 254 

"Retreat" 257 

Major-General John F. O'Ryan 258 

Overseas Cap 259 

Chateau de Brest 269 

Lt. Gow at Brest 273 

Chartres Cathedral 276 

Monastery of Les Cordeliers, Chatillon 280 

The Browning Machine Gun 292 

Lt. Gow and Lt. Willis, Chatillon 294 

The Path of War , 298 

Maj or Stanton Whitney 304 

Kenneth Gow in His Boat on Barnegat Bay 311 

On Barnegat Bay 312 

Lt. Eugene P. Hubbard 319 

Going to the Front 324 

A Trench at the Front , 329 

Lt. Paul Helmuth Gadebusch 332 

Four of the Summit (N. J.) Boys Who Gave Their Lives in the War.... 341 

The Pipers. 345 

First Sergt. Roger Jones 348 

Lts. Gadebusch and Gow 352 

Just Back from the Front and Gassed 375 

H. Q. 27th Div., Near Ronssoy 377 

Capt. Walter Gresham Andrews 382 

The Famous Tunnel on the Hindenburg Line 385 

Trenches and Shell-Holes on the Hindenburg Line, Vendhuile 386 

The Country Around Ronssoy and Lempire 388 

Country Over Which the 27th Div. Fought on Sept. 29, 1918 389 

Lt. Edward Willis 391 

Hindenburg Line at Bellicourt 392 



XX 



ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS 



PAGE 

J. G. Mallay, Jr 393 

Sergt. Alan L. Eggers 394 

The First American Tank, 27th Div., to Go Into Action 395 

Sergt. John C. Latham 397 

Thos. E. O'Shea 398 

Maj.-Gen. John F. O'Ryan 400 

Ruins of Bellicourt 402 

U. S. Victory Medal 407 

"Amidst the Crosses, Row on Row" 409 

Sergt. Chas. W. Veitch 415 

The Country Near St. Souplet 416 

St. Souplet (Nord) and the Rising Ground Beyond the R. R. Station 418 

Thomas C. Janson 420 

Trenches on the Hindenburg Line and Shell-Pitted Terrain 425 

Father Peter E. Hoey, C.S.P 433 

Lt. John McK. Palmer 435 

"Remember, You Have Given a Son to a Great Cause" 436 

Wm. Henry Grant 438 

Kenneth Gow 439 

Choir Days in Calvary Church 443 



INTRODUCTION 

By Capt. Kenneth Cunningham Wilson 

To that great and terrible drama the chief scenes o£ 
which were enacted in France and Belgium in the years 
from 1914 to 19 1 8 there is a significant historic back- 
ground, in the case of the nations which took part in it 
and of the millions of individuals whose greater or smaller 

parts together made up the 
stupendous tout ensemble. 
As to that background in 
its larger and broader as- 
pects, greater pens than mine 
have already described it, or 
will in the future ; and in at- 
tempting to project the back- 
ground of the individual 
soldier whose letters are 
printed in this volume, and 
whom I knew only as a com- 
rade and friend on the 
Mexican Border, at Camp 
Wadsworth and in France, I 
am necessarily beholden to 
sources where this informa- 
tion could be best obtained. 
The people of these 
United States of America 
have now become, and are still in the process of becoming, 
the most composite stock in the world. Many nations, 
tribes and kindreds, of different races, speaking different 
tongues, have contributed ingredients, both good and bad, 
to the contents of the great ''melting-pot." Our present 
civilization is the composite product of various capacities. 




Capt. Kenneth C. Wilson 



xxii INTRODUCTION 

inheritances and ideals. Human materials from the five 
continents and the seven seas have gone into the building of 
the nation, yet there is a potential unity and harmony in the 
result w^hich suggests the directing mind of a Master 
Builder, building on a sound and lasting foundation ; to wit, 
the great principles of the nation's fathers. 

Bismarck defined a nation as a ''multitude of invisible 
spirits — the nation of yesterday and tomorrow." The 
World War came with sudden call and trial to the nations. 
The response given by our composite people demonstrated 
that we are a nation, all its citizens having the same ideals 
and sharing a common devotion to our country. 

When we survey, even cursorily, the history of the 
building and development of this nation, we are arrested by 
the fact that men of Scottish birth and of Scottish blood 
have taken a great and leading part, especially in its begin- 
nings. To mention but a few* of the outstanding men along 
the line of American history, amongst statesmen we find the 
names of Patrick Henry, Alexander Hamilton, John With- 
erspoon and Robert Livingston, the latter the ancestor of a 
distinguished line of statesmen ; in naval and military affairs, 
Paul Jones, Gens. Hugh Mercer and Arthur St. Clair ;t in 
law, James Wilson ; in education, James McCosh ; in com- 
merce and industry, Robert Lenox, John Crerar and An- 
drew Carnegie ; in literature, Washington Irving and S. 
Weir Mitchell ; in exploration and natural history, John 
Muir ; in music, McDowell ; in sculpture, Frederick Mac- 
Monnies ; and in invention, Archibald Graham Bell. 



* Vide "Scots and Scots Descendants in America." 

t Gen. Arthur St. Clair was born in Thurso, Caithness, Scotland. He was 
one of Washington's generals, afterwards the first Governor of Ohio, then in a 
territory. He served with distinction in the War of Independence, and when 
the news was received of the signing of the Declaration of Independence he was 
at Ticonderoga. He ordered the Declaration read after divine service, and then 
said: "God save the free and independent States of America!" The people 
from whom Lt. Gow sprung were of the same county in Scotland. 



INTRODUCTION xxiii 

Two of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, 
Dr. John Witherspoon and Judge James Wilson, were of 
Scottish birth. In Washington's Continental Army there 
were thirty-two generals of either Scottish birth or ancestry. 
Twelve of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention 
of 1787 were of Scottish origin. Fifty-three generals in the 
Civil War, North and South, were of this same race and 
blood, as were 50,000 men in the Northern Army. Accord- 
ing to the late Whitelaw Reid, twelve of our twenty-six 
Presidents were of Scottish descent. 

Theodore Roosevelt writes in his "Winning of the 
West" : 

''Full credit has been awarded the Roundhead and the 
Cavalier; nor have we been altogether blind to the deeds 
of the Hollander and the Huguenot; but it is doubtful if 
we have wholly realized the importance of the part played 
by that stern and virile people whose preachers taught the 
creed of Knox and Calvin. These representatives of the 
Covenanters were in the West almost what the Puritans 
were in the Northeast and more than the CavaHers were in 
the South. They formed the kernel of the distinctively and 
intensely American stock who were the pioneers of our 
people in their march westward." 

So in this superb edifice, our nation, whose foundations 
are laid deep and strong in civil and religious liberty and the 
rights of man, whose spires and pinnacles soar ever up- 
ward in aspirations and ideals, we must recognize that, deep 
and firm in its structure, is a stone, a block of granite, 
inscribed "SCOTLAND." 

Bringing with them a heritage of freedom from their 
long struggle for civil and religious liberty, still remem- 
bering with reverence and affection the glens and the sea- 
beaches of Auld Scotia where their ancestors fought and 
worshipped while resisting religious tyranny; and bringing 



xxiv INTRODUCTION 

also a more intimate knowledge of American history and 
American institutions than any other immigrants, the Scotch 
have made citizens one hundred per cent. American. 

Scotland, although little amongst the nations, her name 
long since almost ceasing to be mentioned in world poHtics, 
has exerted, as the late Dr. Hamilton W. Mabie writes, an 
influence on the world out of all proportion to the numbers 
of her people. If men of Scottish birth and blood have thus 
impressed themselves on the world, it need not be imputed 
to any inherent superiority of race. If those whom Roose- 
velt calls "that stern and virile people whose preachers 
taught the creed of Knox and Calvin" have accomplished 
any creditable and lasting w^ork in the world, it must be 
ascribed to that stern schooling in character which their 
religious education has supplied. Burns would not have 
been the national poet of Scotland had he not had the in- 
sight to recognize this. In his ''Cotter's Saturday Night" 
he portrays one of those humble yet potent schools of char- 
acter, where the emphasis is placed on the moral and the 
spiritual, and he writes : 

"From scenes like these Auld Scotia's grandeurs rise ; 
This makes her loved at home, revered abroad." 

Let not the reader contemn these references to race and 
origin. Perhaps some of us Americans are somewhat vain- 
glorious in affecting that our people have always been 
Americans — that what went before does not matter. But 
whether our particular strain is derived from Scotland, Ire- 
land, England, France, Germany, Italy, etc., we have race 
characteristics of habit, character and modes of thought 
which are inherent in our mental make-up. It is well to 
forget Old World political legacies, but it is not well to 
forget our spiritual heritages. 



INTRODUCTION xxv 

The writer of these letters, Kenneth Gow, was of purely 
Scottish blood. His immediate ancestors belonged to the 
County of Caithness, the northeastern corner of Scotland, on 
the North Sea. Scandinavian blood through Mowats and 
Gunns and other descendants of the old Vikings, Celtic 
blood through MacGregors and MacKays, flowed in his 
veins. Surely the old clan loyalty lived again in him. 
When President Wilson sounded his trumpet call for pre- 
paredness in 1 91 6, Kenneth Gow was quick to respond, and 
enlisted in the militia. His letters show that foremost in 
his make-up was loyalty — loyalty to his family, to his 
friends, to his comrades, to his officers, to his regimental 
company, to his regiment, to his division, and above all to 
his country and its cause. 

In one of his letters he writes of being thankful for his 
heritage. He understood this in its broadest sense; that it 
was not only that heritage which he derived from his an- 
cestry, but also the heritage derived from his American 
birth and nurture, his American education, and the spiritual 
heritage derived from those who helped to form his moral 
and religious concepts, the names of some of whom appear 
in the portion of this volume entitled ''Tributes." 

It is not intimated that, amongst the many hundreds of 
thousands of young American soldiers in the A. E. F., Ken- 
neth Gow stands out as unique or unusual in character or 
patriotic devotion. He himself would be the first to depre- 
cate and disclaim any such extravagant estimate. His 
story, experience and sentiments but serve to illustrate the 
spirit which actuated and inspired many thousands of others 
who, with equal devotion and the same exaltation of soul, 
laid all they were or hoped to be on the altar of their coun- 
try, many paying, as he did, the last tribute of devotion. 
And these young men were derived from everv nation and 
race in Europe, and of some even in Asia, as the roster of 



xxvi INTRODUCTION 

the A. E. F. shows, proving to the world that the United 
States of America contains a people, one in mind and in 
ideals — the nation of yesterday, today and tomorrow. It is 
well to remind ourselves here, too, that all the patriotism 
and self-sacrifice were not confined to the southwestern side 
of the Hindenburg Line. That so many of the best and 
bravest of all the nations should have been marshalled, 
trained to the acme of physical and mental efficiency, and 
then hurled against each other in mutual destruction, surely 
brands war, whoever is held responsible, as the supreme 
crime of all the ages. 

It is said of Kenneth Gow that at the — to him — supreme 
moment of his military career, when, through his own 
ability and the fortunes of war, the moment arrived when 
he was given command of his company, to put to the ulti- 
mate test his military ability and the long training he had 
been given, it was a pitiful fate to meet death rather than 
success and continued life. But, despite this, and despite of 
our knowledge of the dirt, toil, cruelties and horrors of war, 
our age-old inheritance from hundreds of generations of 
warring ancestors leads us to look upon this soldier's death 
in the spirit of ancient Rome : 

"To every man upon this earth 
Death cometh soon or late ; 
And how can man die better 
Than facing fearful odds. 
For the ashes of his fathers 
And the temples of his Gods ?" 

Some of those who were very close to the men in 
France have, like Father Hoey, testified to the spirit of exal- 
tation that buoyed up many of the soldiers of the A. E. F. 
They were fortified through all the fatigue, danger and suf- 



INTRODUCTION xxvii 

fering by the feeling that it was well worth while — that the 
world would be freer, better and happier for all their sacri- 
fice and toil. Many, like Lieut. Gow, died in this belief, 
happy in that their ideals were unshattered, with the con- 
viction that they were fighting and suffering in a cause 
which, in his words, was "worth a dozen lives." These 
dead did not come back home to disillusionment, to find 
men living on the same low plane, to meet indifference and 
even neglect and seeming forgetfulness on the part of their 
own countrymen. They did not live to see the nations of 
the earth, selfish and self-seeking, under darker clouds than 
overshadowed the world in 1917-18, or to see that country 
for whose ideals they fought and died threatening to forsake 
those ideals and to stand solely for itself and by itself. We 
may ask : ''Have these dead died in vain ?" but they sleep in 
peace, secure from the sorrows, doubts and fears which so 
sorely beset the living. 

"No vision of the morrow's strife 
The warriors' dream alarms, 
No braying horn, or screaming fife 
At dawn shall call to arms. 

"On Fame's eternal camping-ground 
Their silent tents are spread ; 
And Glory guards, with solemn round, 
The bivouac of the dead." 

To the reader of these letters who did not know Ken- 
neth Gow% they give an insight into the thoughts and emo- 
tions of one of those fine characters which made up the 
great United States Army. To me, and to his many devoted 
comrades of the old Machine Gun Co. and the 107th Infan- 
try, they bring back memories of that stirring period of our 



xxviii INTRODUCTION 

lives devoted to the service of the United States, tinged 
with the regret that this cherished friend is no longer with 
us. My acquaintance with Kenneth Gow began when he 
joined the Machine Gun Detachment of the old 7th Infan- 
try, N. G. N. Y., of which I was a newly-appointed non- 
commissioned officer, before we were called into service on 
the Mexican Border; drawn to him, as were all his com- 
rades, by his charming personality, his absolute faithfulness 
and loyalty to the Service and his friends. Through all my 
service with him I cherished his companionship and the in- 
spiration his high ideals and sense of duty brought to me. 
In no profession or walk of life do men rely on one another 
as in the military service ; and we all felt that Lieut. Ken- 
neth Gow could be relied upon absolutely to marshal every 
one of his fine qualities to the execution of any duty with 
which he was charged, from the smallest routine task to 
the command of his Company in battle. It is our sorrow 
that in this faithful performance he met a soldier's death, 
at the head of the Company which looked to him with con- 
fidence as its fearless, accomplished, and beloved leader. 

Amongst Lieut. Gow's ancient Highland ancestors, 
when some beloved clansman was laid in his last bed be- 
neath the heather, a monument of stones, called a cairn, 
was erected, from every friend a stone. In like fashion do 
I add one stone to the cairn of my friend and comrade, 
Kenneth Gow. 



PREFATORY NOTE 

These letters were written without any thought that 
they would ever be published ; they were nearly all writ- 
ten under the stress and hurry of strenuous military 
training in camp or operations in the field; and some of 
them were written under shell fire. The primary object 
of their publication is that this book should serve as a 
memorial of the writer of them. 

But as the letters present in a graphic and intimate 
way, being written as events were happening, those mili- 
tary experiences gone through by many others, it is 
believed that they will recall much of interest which will 
always dwell in the memories of the survivors of the 
company and regiment in which Lt. Gow served, and of 
others who also responded to the call of their country. 

Editor. 



The Seventh Infantry 




The Seventh Infantry, 
National Guard, State of New 
York, dates back to 1806, 
when four companies were or- 
ganized and mustered into the 
service of the State, but it was 
not designated the Seventh 
until about forty years later. 
These four companies became 
the infantry battalion in the 
Third Regiment of Artillery 

in 1807. In 18 1 2 the regiment was designated the 
Eleventh, and was in the United States service in the 
war with Great Britain, stationed at Bedloe's Island, New 
York harbor, and afterwards at the North Battery, New 
York, in 1814. 

The regiment was gradually enlarged, under various 
designations, doing State service in a number of riots and 
public disasters, until 1847, when it was designated the 
Seventh Regiment of Infantry. Between 1849 ^^^ 1^59 
it was still further enlarged, and served the State during 
three periods of public disturbances. 

In 1 86 1 the regiment was called into the service of 
the United States and sent to the defence of Washington. 
During the Civil War it served at various times both 
under the State and National Governments. The regi- 
ment was continued after the Civil War, serving the 
State for periods in 1871, 1877, 1895, ^^^^ 1900. Addi- 



4 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

tional companies were organized betweeen 1908 and 191 2, 
and the Machine Gun Company was organized in 19 14. 

The Seventh Regiment of New York adopted the 
name "National Guard" in 1824, in honor of the French 
general Lafayette, of the Garde Nationale, who revisited 
the United States in that year, being received with great 




© Underwood & Underwood. 

Seventh Regiment Armory. 



honors by the nation on account of his services to it in 
the War of Independence, the Seventh being his guard 
of honor on his arrival in New York City, as it was the 
honor escort of Marshal Joffre in 19 17. The State of New 
York, in the Militia Act of 1862, appropriated the title 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 5 

''National Guard" for all the militia of the State, and this 
designation was afterwards adopted by the United States 
Government and by most of the States. For the inform- 
ation of British readers it should be stated here that the 
National Guard of the United States somewhat corre- 
sponds to the ''Territorials," as it is composed of citizen 
soldiery, subject tO' call for active duty by the governors 
of the respective States of the Union, but which may be 
mustered, in a national emergency, into the service of the 
United States by the President. 

The Seventh Regiment, N. G. N. Y., has built and 
owns its own armory, a commodious, substantial and 
imposing edifice, occupying a city "block" between 66th 
and 67th Sts., Park and Lexington Aves., New York 
City. It was erected in 1879 at a cost of $750,000 
(£154,000). The regiment has been nicknamed "the 
Grayjackets," from its uniform, adopted in 1824. Its 
field uniform is the khaki (O. D. — olive drab), which was 
donned when the regiment was mustered into the U. S. 
service in 19 16 and 1917. From generation to generation 
the regiment has maintained its "touch of elbow," pass- 
ing on its traditions as well as its identity to the new 
recruits. The Seventh Regiment Gazette has been pub- 
lished for thirty years, and has done much to maintain the 
continuity of the organization and its esprit de corps. 
The Seventh has long been recognized as the "crack" 
regiment of New York. Old New Yorkers, remembermg 
the various parades of our citizen soldiers, can recall the 
added thrill they experienced when the "Dandy Seventh," 
with its fine marching and almost perfect alignment, came 
swinging down Fifth Avenue. Its last public appearance 



6 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

in New York before the World War was in 19 17, when it 
marched away to Camp Wadsworth to its regimental 
hymn, "Onward, Christian Soldiers." 

In 1916 the regiment was called out for United States 
service, and was sent to the Mexican Border, being sta- 
tioned at McAllen, Texas. It was in this service from 
June 19 to Dec. 2, 19 16. 

In 19 1 7 the Seventh was called for the fourth time 
in its history to service by the U. S. Government. It was 
sent to Camp Wadsworth, Spartanburg, South Carolina, 
for training and reorganization, preparatory to being 
sent across seas in the war with Germany, the World 
War. While at Spartanburg it received various accre- 
tions, mainly from the First and Twelfth Regiments, 
New York National Guard, to bring its strength up to 
3,700 men. After reorganization (Oct. 8, 1917), it was 
designated the 107th U. S. Infantry, being part of the 
27th or New York Division. The training period at 
Camp Wadsworth lasted from July 16, 19 17, to April 
7, 1918. 

In May, 19 18, the 107th Regt. was sent to France, 
landing at Brest. With the other units of the 27th 
Division and the 30th Division, 2d American Corps, it 
was brigaded with the British 4th Army. The 107th took 
part in engagements and battles in both Belgium and 
France, in the East Poperinghe Line Jul}^ 9 to Aug. 20, 
1918; in the Dickebusch Lake sector Aug. 21 to 30; these 
places being in Belgiinn ; at the Knoll, Guillemont Farm, 
Quennemont Farm, near Ronssoy, France, Sept. 27 ; at 
the Hinden1)urg Line near Bony, France, Sept. 29 and 
30; at the La Selle River, near St. Souplet (Nord) Oct. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 7 

17; at the Jonc de Mer Ridge, near Arbre Guernon, Oct. 
18; and at St. Maurice River, near Catillon, Oct. 19 and 
20, 1918. 

Two days before they went into the Une in Belgium 
the strength of the 27th Division was approximately 
19,500 officers and men. The artillery and trains, aggre- 
gating about 6,500 officers and men, had been detached 
from the division and sent to the American sector. The 
division at that time was about 2,000 short of full war 
strength, which for a division was 999 officers and 27,173 
men, or a total of 28,172. 

The 107th Inf. had 116 officers and 3,201 men, a 
total of 3,317, 489 short of full war strength, which was 
107 officers and 3,699 men, a total of 3,806. 

The Machine Gun Co. of the 107th Inf. had six offi- 
cers and 160 men, a total of 166, twelve short of full war 
strength, which for a machine gun company was six offi- 
cers and 172 men, a total of 178. 

The 27th Division sustained 8,100 battle casualties, 
1,928 killed and 8,100 wounded. The 107th Regt. sus- 
tained 1,867 battle casualties in the various actions from 
July 14 to Nov. I, 1918 — 529 killed, 1,100 wounded, 
202 gassed, fifteen missing and twenty-one captured. The 
Machine Gun Co. of the 107th sustained 103 battle casu- 
alties — twenty-four killed, sixty-five wounded and four- 
teen gassed. 

Men of the 27th Division received a total of 254 
decorations. Sixty of these were conferred on men of 
the 107th, and thirteen out of the sixty were won by men 
of the Machine Gun Co. The 27th Division won six 
Congressional Medals of Honor. Three of these were 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 




The "Gray Jacket" Uniform 
illustrate the esprit de corps of the /th, which became the 



conferred on men of 
the 107th Inf., and 
these three men were 
of the M. G. Co.* The 
27th Division was 
awarded 134 Distin- 
guished ServiceCrosses. 
Of these, forty were 
won by men of the 
107th, and seven of the 
forty were conferred 
on members of the M. 
G, Co. An officer of 
the 27th Division has 
said that in every case 
where a man won a 
decoration there were 
others neck-and-neck 
with him, and yet 
others close at his heels. 
The letters in this 
volume give us glimpses 
of the rigorous training 
of the 27th Division 
at Camp Wadsworth, 
under General O'Ryan, 



*Alan Louis Eggers, Sergeant, M. G. Co., 107th Infantry, September 29th, 

Le Catelet. 
John Cridland Latham, Sergeant, M. G. Co., 107th Infantry, September 29th, 

Le Catelet. 
Thomas E. O'Shea, Corporal, M. G. Co., 107th Infantry, September 29th, Le 

Catelet. (Killed in action Sept. 29th.) 



10 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

107th Regt., and tell of the personnel and training of the 
officers and men of the M. G. Co. of the old 7th, developed 
into the M. G. Co. of the new 107th. And this training of 
the 7th and of its M. G. Co. goes back farther than Camp 
Wadsworth — to the months spent on the Mexican border 
in 19 16. In Gen. Pershing's army in France there were 
over one thousand ofiicers who graduated from the Sev- 
enth, N. Y. N. G., besides those in the 107th Infantry 
and other units of the 27th Division. The 7th Regiment 
also furnished 350 men in a block to the N. Y. 69th 
( .165th U. S. Inf.), of the Rainbow Division. 

We have read much as to what nation, what army, 
what division, what regiment even, won the World War, 
and preposterous claims have been made that have pro- 
voked derision. A great deal of this comes from the 
inability or unwillingness of many people to visualize the 
war in its entirety, and to see one effort or one campaign 
in proportion to the whole. And few there are who, with 
Marshal Foch, ascribe the success of the Allies to the 
overruling of Divine Providence. It has not been claimed 
by or for the 27th Division or the 107th Regiment that 
their efforts alone won the war. They simply did their 
part. As to the 7th- 107th, those of us who knew some- 
thing of its make-up, training and experience were confi- 
dent that, when its men went to France, what it was pos- 
sible for men to do they would do. Now we have the 
knowledge that what it was possible for men to do they 
did. This suffices for us and for them — Pro patria ct 
gloria! R. M. G. 



12 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

Some Official Commendations of the 
27th Am. Division 

From Sir Douglas Haig, Commander-in-Chief, British Army. 

"I wish to express to you personally and to all the officers and 
men serving under you my warm appreciation of the very valuable 
and gallant services rendered by you, throughout the recent opera- 
tions with the 4th British Army. Called upon to attack positions of 
great strength held by a determined enemy, all ranks of the 27th 
and 30th American Divisions displayed an energy, courage and deter- 
mination in attack which proved irresistible. It does not need me 
to tell you that in the heavy fighting of the past three weeks you 
have earned the lasting esteem and admiration of your British com- 
rades in arms whose success you have so nobly shared. 

"On the 29th of September you took part with great distinction 
in the great and critical attack which shattered the enemy's 
resistance in the Hindenburg Line and opened the road to final vic- 
tory. The deeds of the 27th and 30th American Divisions who on 
that day took Bellicourt and Nauroy, and so gallantly sustained the 
desperate struggle for Bony, will rank with the highest achieve- 
ments of the war. They will always be remembered by the British 
regiments that fought beside you." 



From Gen. H. L. Rawlinson, Commander Fourth British Army. 

"The breaking of the great Hindenburg system of defense, 
coupled with the captures of Grandcourt, Busigny and St. Souplet, 
and finally the forcing of the passages of the La Selle, constitute a 
series of victories of which each officer, N. C. O. and man have 
every reason to feel proud." 



From Lt.-Col. H. Murray, Commander Fourth Australian M. G. 

Battalion. 

"I am convinced that the officers and men of the 27th Division 
have done all that was humanly possible for brave men to do, and 
their gallantry in this action must stand out through all time in 
American history." 



14 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

From Maj.-Gen. I. Gellibrand, Commander Third Australian Div. 
"On behalf of all ranks of the 3rd Australian Division, I desire 
to express our sincere appreciation of the fighting qualities dis- 
played by the 27th Division U. S. on the 27th and 29th September 
last. The gallant manner in which your troops faced an extremely 
difficult task, the determination of their attacks on a strongly en- 
trenched position, and the undaunted spirit with which they met 
their losses make us hope that we shall again have the honor 
of fighting alongside the Division under your command. The confi- 
dence of the men in their officers appealed to us as a particularly 
happy omen for the future successes of the 27th." 



Ffofn Gen. O'Ryan, Commander 27th Div. 
"Almost continuously the division has been fighting and marching, 
and the 107th Infantry has continued its inspiring record for dis- 
cipline and dlieerful endurance in battle. Lying in shell holes at 
night, attacking at dawn, fighting all day against the most deter- 
mined and cunning machine-gun resistance, supported by artillery — 
repeating this the following day until the relief, which meant lying 
in other shell holes and pits in a position of close support — to ex- 
perience these privations with confidence and cheerfulness unim- 
paired requires physical fitness and spirit in superlative degree, and 
well indeed have you demonstrated their possession." 



From Gen. Pershing, Commander American Army. 
"It was the fortune of our 2d Corps, composed of the 27th and 
30th Divisions, which had remained with the British, to have a place 
of honor in co-operation with the Australian Corps on Sept. 29 and 
Oct. 1 in the assault on the Hindenburg line where the St. Quentin 
Canal passes through a tunnel under a, ridge. The 30th Division 
speedily broke through the main line of defense for all its objectives, 
while the 27th pushed on impetuously through the main line until 
some of its elements reached Gouy. In the midst of the maze of 
trenches and shell craters and under crossfire from machine guns, 
the other elements fought desperately against odds. In this and in 
later actions, from Oct. 6 to Oct. 19, our 2d Corps captured over 
6,000 prisoners and advanced over thirteen miles The spirit and 
aggressiveness of these divisions have been highly praised by the 
British commander under whom they served." 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 15 

ROLL OF HONOR 
Machine Gun Co., 7th Int. 

Officers and Men and Graduates of the M. G. Co. of the 7th 

Inft., N. Y. N. G. 

Dates of Death and Places of Burial. 

First Lieutenant Edward Willis; killed in action Sept. 29, 1918; 

Bony, F-8-202. 
First Lieutenant Kenneth Gow; killed in action Oct. 17, 1918; 

St. Souplet, A-1-2. 
Second Lieutenant Jerome J. Dixon. 
Second Lieutenant Henry B. Smith. 

Second Lieutenant William H. Tailer; killed in action; aviator. 
Sergt. Morris S. Boyer; killed in action Oct. 12, 1918; Montbrehain, 

A-4-1. 
Sergt. Harry P. Bruhn. 
Sergt. Richard A. Hamilton, Jr. 

Corp. Dennis J. Donnelly; died of wounds Sept. 29; Doingt, 4-D-6. 
Corp. Nicholas E. Kelly; killed in action Sept. 29; Bony, F-2-v35. 
Corp. George H. Moore; killed in action Sept. 29; Bony, F-2-40. 
Corp. Thomas E. O'Shea; killed in action Sept. 29; Bony, E-2-47. 
Corp. Raymond H. Spickerman ; killed in action Sept. 29 ; Bony, 

9-2-27. 
Privates — 

Edward J. Borstleman ; died of wounds Sept. 29 ; Tincourt, F-6-4. 

Walter L. Crandall; killed in action Sept. 29; Bony, F-3-78. 

Harry A. Dearing. 

Ray de Graff; killed in action Sept. 29; Bony, F-2-45. 

William H. Grant; killed in action Oct. 12; Busigny, Am. C. 12. 

R. D. Hamilton, Jr.; killed in action Sept. 29; Bony, F-3-51. 

Thomas E. McDonald ; killed in action Sept. 29 ; Bony, F-8-205. 

Frederick A. Mackenzie ; killed in action Sept. 29 ; Bony, F-2-39. 

William McKibbin; killed in action Sept. 29; Bony, F-8-207. 

John J. Mallay, Jr.; killed in action Sept. 29; Bony, F-2-38. 

Horace Murtha ; killed in action Sept. 29 ; Bony F-8-186. 

Harold J. Porter ; killed in action Sept. 29 ; Bony, F-2-42. 

Floyd Pudney; killed in action Sept. 29; Bony, F-2-32. 

Harry V. Quinn ; killed in action Sept. 29. 

William Reynolds; killed in action Sept. 29; Guillemont, A-3-24. 

Louis Ruoff ; killed in action Sept. 29; Guillemont, A-4-13. 

Richard A. Scully; died of disease Oct. 30; 18 A. G. R. 

Melvin T. Smith; killed in action Sept. 29. 



16 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

Military Record of Kenneth Gow 

M. G. Co., 107TH Inftry., U. S. (N. G.), 27TH Division. 

Born Sept. i, 1889, ^t Summit, N. J. 

Enlisted 7th Regt. N. Y. N. G. May 16, 1916. 

Served with 7th Inftry. from June 19, 19 16, to 
December 2, 19 16, on Mexican Border. 

Appointed Corporal Oct. 8, 19 16. 

Appointed wStable Sergeant Nov. 10, 19 16. 

Appointed First Sergeant July 14, 19 17. 

Served with 7th Inftry. from July 16, 191 7, to Oct. 
8, 19 1 7, Camp Wads worth. 

Served with 107th U. S. Inftry. from Oct. 8, 1917, 
to April 7, 19 18, Camp Wadsworth. 

Commissioned Second Lieutenant Jan. 27, 1918. 

Served with 107th U. S. Inftry. in Belgium and 
France from May 8, 19 18, to October 17, 19 18. 

D. S. at 2d Corps School, Chatillon, France, from 
June I, 1918, to July 7, 1918. 

Promoted to rank of First Lieutenant October, 19 18, 
by Special Order 299. 

Killed in action on the morning of Oct. 17, 19 18, 
between La Haje Menneresse and St. Souplet, in attack 
on the Selle River heights, while going forward to find a 
crossing place of the La Selle River and to locate machine 
gun emplacements. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 17 

CORPORAL'S WARRANT. 

The Commanding Officer of the Seventh Infantry, National Guard, 
New York, to all who shall see these presents, greeting : 

Know ye that, reposing special trust and confidence in the patriot- 
ism, valor, fidelity and abilities of Kenneth Gow, I do hereby ap- 
point him Corporal in the Machine Gun Co. of the 7tli N. Y. Infan- 
try, N. G. U. S., in the service of the State of New York, to rank 
as such from the 8th day of October one thousand nine hundred and 
sixteen. He is therefore carefully and diligently to discharge the 
duty of Corporal by doing and performing all manner of things 
thereunto belonging. And I do strictly charge and require all non- 
commissioned officers and soldiers under his command to he ol)e- 
dient to his orders as corporal. And he is to observe and follow 
such orders and directions from time to time as he shall receive 
from me or his future commanding officer or other superior officers 
and non-commissioned officers set over him according to the laws 
and regulations governing the military forces of the State of New 
York. This warrant to continue in force during the pleasure of the 
commanding officer of the 7th N. Y. Inftry., N. G. U. S., for the 
time being. 

Given under my hand at the headquarters of the 7th N. Y. Inf., 
N. G. U. S., at McAllen, Texas, this 8th day of October in the year 
of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and sixteen. 

(Signed) Willard C. Fisk, 
Colonel Commanding the 7th N. Y. Inf., N. G. U. S. 
By the Commanding Officer : 
D. C. Despard, 
Captain Adjutant. 

SERGEANT'S WARRANT. 

The Commanding Officer of the Seventh Infantry, National Guard, 
New York, to all who shall see these presents, greeting: 
Know ye that, reposing special trust and confidence in the patriot- 
ism, valor, fidelity and abilities of Kenneth Gow, I do hereby ap- 
point him Stable Sergeant in Machine Gun Co. of the 7th N. Y. 
Infantry, N. G. U. S., in the service of the State of New York, to 
rank as such from the 10th day of November, one thousand nine 
hundred and sixteen. He is therefore carefully and diligently to dis- 



18 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

charge the duty o£ Stable Sergeant by doing and performing all 
manner of things thereunto belonging. And I do strictly charge 
and require all non-commissioned officers and soldiers under his 
command to be obedient to his orders as stable sergeant. And he is 
to observe and follow such orders and directions from time to time 
as he shall receive from me or his future commanding officer or 
other superior officers and non-commissioned officers set over him 
according to the laws and regulations governing the military forces 
of the State of New York. This warrant to continue in force dur- 
ing the pleasure of the commanding officer of the 7th N. Y. Infan- 
try, N. G. U. S., for the time being. 

Given under my hand at the headquarters of the N. Y. 7th 
Infantry, N. G., U. S., at McAllen, Texas, this 10th day of Novem- 
ber, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and sixteen. 

(Signed) Willard C. Fisk, 
Colonel Commanding the 7th N. Y. Infantry, N. G. U. S. 
By the Commanding Officer: 
D. C. Despard, 
Captain Adjutant. 

APPOINTMENT AS FIRST SERGEANT. 

National Guard of the United States and of the State of New York, 
to all who shall see these presents, greeting: 

Know ye that, reposing special trust and confidence in the fidelity 
and abilities of Kenneth Gow, I do hereby appoint him First 
Sergeant, Machine Gun Co., 7th Regt., N. Y. Inftry., National Guard, 
to rank as such from the 14th day of Jul}^, one thousand nine hun- 
dred and seventeen. He is therefore carefully and diligently to dis- 
charge the duty of first sergeant by doing and performing all man- 
ner of things thereunto belonging. And I do strictly charge and 
require all non-commissioned officers and soldiers under his com- 
mand to be obedient to his orders as first sergeant. And he is to 
observe and follow such orders and directions from time to time as 
he shall receive from his superior officers and non-commissioned 
officers set over him, according to the rules and discipline of war. 

Given under my hand at New York this fourteenth day of July, 
in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and seventeen. 

(Signed) Willard C. Fisk, 
Colonel 7th Regt. N. Y. Infantry. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 19 

DISCHARGE FROM NATIONAL GUARD. 

National Guard of the United States and of the State of New York, 
to all whom it may concern : 

This is to certify that Kenneth Gow, First Sergeant Machine 
Gun Co., 7th Regt., New York Inf., National Guard, as a testimonial 
of honest and faithful service, is hereby honorably discharged from 
the National Guard of the United States and of the State of New 
York, by reason of being drafted into the military service of the 
United States, August 5, 1917. 

Said Kenneth Gow was born in Summit, in the State of New 
Jersey. When enlisted he was twenty-six years of age, and by occu- 
pation a salesman. He had blue eyes, brown hair, light complexion, 
and was 5 feet 11 inches in height. 

Given under my hand at New York City, N. Y., this 5th day of 
August, one thousand nine hundred and seventeen. 

(Signed) Willard C. Fisk, 

Colonel 7th New York Inf. 

ENLISTMENT RECORD. 

Name: Kenneth Gow. Grade: 1st Sergeant. 

Enhsted May 16, 1916, at New York City, N. Y. 

In service of the United States, under call of the President, from 

June 26, 1916, to Dec. 2, 1916, and July 15, 1917, to Aug. 4, 

1917. 
Non-commissioned officer : First Sergeant, July 14, 1917. 
Single; character excellent; no A. W. O. L. ; service honest and 

faithful. 

(Signed) Kenneth Gardner, 
Captain 7th New York Infantry, Commanding Machine Gun Co. 

DISCHARGE FROM U. S. ARMY. 

Honorable Discharge from the United States Army. To all whom 
it may concern : 
This is to certify that Kenneth Gow, a first sergeant of Machine 
Gun Co. of the 107th Regiment of Infantry, as a testimonial of 
honest and faithful service, is hereby honorably discharged from the 
United States Army by reason of accepting commission as 2d 
lieutenant. 



20 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

Said Kenneth Gow was born in Summit, in the State of New 
Jersey, and when enlisted was 26 years of age, by occupation a sales- 
man, had blue eyes, brown hair, light complexion, and was 5 feet 
10«)4 inches in height. 

Given under my hand at Camp Wadsworth, S. C., this 26th day 
of January, one thousand nine hundred and eighteen. 

(Signed) Robert Mazet, 

Major 107th Infantry. 

ENLISTMENT RECORD. 

Name : Kenneth Gow. Grade : First Sergeant. 

Enlisted May 16, 1916, at New York, N. Y., for period of the 

emergency. 
Non-commissioned officer: 1st Sergeant, July 16, 1917. 
Horsemanship: Qualified. 
Physical condition when discharged : Good. 
Typhoid prophylaxis completed Oct. 19, 1917. 
Single ; character excellent ; no A. W. O. L. ; service honest and 

faithful. 

(Signed) Kenneth Gardner, 
Captain 107th Inf., Commanding Machine Gun Co. 



Washington, D. C, 

7 P. M., Jan. 26, 1918. 
Commanding General, 27th Division, 

Camp Wadsworth, Spartanburg, S. C. 
Promotions vSecond Lieutenants Griswold E. Daniell and Louis 
G. Janne to First Lieutenants, and appointments Sergeants Paul A. 
Florian, KENNETH GOW and Clarence S. Freeman as Second 
Lieutenants, approved. Advise them forward acceptances. 

McCain. 

Headquarters Camp Wadsworth, S. C, 

Jan. 27, 1918. 
Official copy to 2d Lt. Gow, thru 
Commanding Officer 107th Inftry. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 21 

Camp Wadsworth, S. C, 

January 27, 1918. 

From : 2d Lieut. Kenneth Gow, Infantry, N. G. 
To: Adjutant General of the Army. 
Subject: Oath of Office, 

Enclosing Oath of Office and copy of telegram sent this date to 
Adjutant General of the Army, as follows: 

Referring your telegram January twenty-sixth addressed to Com- 
manding General Twenty-seventh Division. I accept appointment 
as Second Lieutenant. 

Kenneth Gow. 



Headquarters, 27th Division, 
Camp Wadsworth, 
Spartanburg, S. C. 



Special Orders 

No. 29 



Jan. 29, 1918. 



EXTRACT. 



1. Second Lieut. Kenneth Gow, N. G. U. S., appointed from 
Sergeant, Machine Gun Company, 107th Infantry, having accepted 
commission as such on January 27, 1918, will be discharged by his 
Commanding Officer as an enlisted man as of January 26, 1918. 
Lieut. Gow is assigned to the 107th Infantry, and will be assigned to 
a company by the regimental commander. 

By command of Major-General O'Ryan : 

H. H. Bandholtz, 
Colonel, Chief of Staff. 
Official : 

Franklin W. Ward, 
Adjutant General, 
Adjutant. 



22 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

Headquarters, 107th Infantry, U. S. A. 

January 30, 1918. 
Regimental Order No. 115 

Second Lieut. Kenneth Gow, having been assigned to this regi- 
ment by Division Order, and having reported, is hereby assigned to 
the Machine Gun Company for duty. 

By order of Major Mazet: (gigged) Douglas C. Despard, 
Official: Captain, Adjutant. 

D. C. D. F. 
Copy to C. O., M. G. Co. 
Copy to Lieut. Gow. 

COMMISSION. 

The President of the United States of America to all who shall see 
these presents, greeting : 

Know ye that, reposing special trust and confidence in the patriot- 
ism, valor, fidehty and abiHties of Kenneth Gow, I do appoint him 
a Second Lieutenant in the National Guard, in the service of the 
United States, to rank as such from the twenty-first day of January, 
nineteen hundred and eighteen. He is therefore carefully and dili- 
gently to discharge the duty of the office to which he is appointed by 
doing and performing all manner of things thereunto belonging. 

And I do strictly charge and require all officers and soldiers 
under his command to be obedient to his orders as an officer of his 
grade and position. And he is to observe and follow such orders 
and directions, from time to time, as he shall receive from me, or 
the future President of the United States of America, or the Gen- 
eral or other superior officers set over him, according to the rules 
and discipline of war. This commission to continue in force during 
the pleasure of the President of the United States for the time 
being, and for the period of the existing emergency, under the pro- 
visions of an act of Congress approved June three, nineteen hun- 
dred and sixteen. 

Given under my hand, at the City of Washington, this twenty- 
first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine 
hundred and eighteen, and in the one hundred and forty-second 
year of the independence of the United States. 

By the President : (Signed) B. Crowell, 

Assistant Secretary of War. 
The Adjutant General's Office. Recorded Feb. 6, 1918. 
(Signed) H. P. McCain, 
The Adjutant General. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



23 



NOTE. 
By Special Order No. 299, 2d Lt. Gow was promoted to be first 
lieutenant in October, 1918, but had not received the commission 
when: killed in action, near St. Souplet, Nord, France, Oct. 17th, 

^^^^' CITATION. 

War Department 
The Adjutant General's Office 
Washington, April 9, 1919. 
Mr. R. M. Gow, 

12 Caldwell Avenue, Summit, N. J. 

Dear Sir: This office has been advised, by cable No. 2010, by 
the Commanding General, American Expeditionary Forces, that he 
has awarded the Distin- 
guished Service Cross 
posthumously to your son, 
1st Lieutenant Kenneth 
Gow, Machine Gun Com- 
pany, 107th Infantry, for — 

"Extraordinary heroism 
in action near Ronssoy, 
France, September 29th, 
1918. While supply officer 
for his company he per- 
sonally took rations for- 
ward with a pack mule 
through continuous shell 
and machine gun fire. 

"When all officers of 
his company were either 
killed or wounded he as- 
sumed command and led 
it forward through heavy 
shell and machine gun 
fire, until he was killed" 
(Oct. 17th). 

The Quartermaster General of the Army has been directed to 
cause the distinguished service cross to be forwarded to you. 
Very truly yours, 

(Signed) P. C. Harris, 
The Adjutant General, per R. II. 




24 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

ARMY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 
To all who shall see these presents, greeting : 

This is to certify that Kenneth Gow, First Lieutenant of Infan- 
try, died with honor in the service of his country on the seventeenth 
day of October, 1918. 

Given at Washington, D. C., office of the Adjutant General of 
the Arm}^, this seventh day of January, one thousand nine hundred 
and twenty. 

(Signed) C. S. McNeill, 

Adjutant-General. 



Mexican Border Service 




Poster-stamp of the Seventh 



June 19 to Dec. 2, 191 6 



off for the Border 

The Seventh Regiment N. G. N. Y. left their armory 
in New York for Mexican Border service on June 26, 
19 16. The regiment received a very enthusiastic send- 
off in New York City and an ovation all along the route. 
The railroad tracks wxre lined with cheering crowds 
from Jersey City out to the Meadows, and through 
Newark and Elizabeth, N. J. This was repeated at other 
cities which the regiment passed through by daylight, 
notably Richmond, Ind. They arrived at McAllen, Tex., 
on July 2d. 

LETTER I 

Travelling by Troops Transport Train. — The Re- 
ception AT Harrisburg. — Probable Desti- 
nation. — His First Promotion. 

On Train, near Columbus, Ohio. 

Wednesday, June, 19 16. 
Dear Mama and Family: 

Expect to get to Columbus in about an hour. We 
have twenty-six cars in our train, which is the last of the 
division. The horses and mules are on the first train, 
combat wagons and trucks on the second and the men on 
two twenty-six car trains. We have dragged all the way 
across Ohio, and it is very wearisome. The men have 
sung, talked and slept themselves out already, and we are 
not one-quarter of the way there. The weather is very 

27 



28 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



fine; cool so far, which is a great relief. I was on guard 
last night, consequently have had but one hour's sleep 
since entraining. We stopped for half an hour at Har- 
risburg, and the men were allowed to get out for a 
stretch. As I was on guard, I could not take advantage 
of this liberty. We expect to do the same thing at In- 
dianapolis, to-night, 
when I will have my 
turn. The discipline 
is very strict. We 
cannot buy any but 
specified things. No 
man is allowed even 
on the train plat- 
forms, etc. 

I almost forgot to 

speak of the reception 

we received at Har- 

risburg. Half the 

city population 

seemed to be there. 

Any man could have 

a 1 1 the cigarettes, 

cigars or tobacco he 

wanted. Baskets of 

fruit and sandwiches were presented to any man who 

would take the trouble to carry them on the train. Who 

paid for it all I do not know. 

We are going to St. Louis and thence down the 
Mississippi Valley to Galveston, and from there to 
Brownsville, on the Gulf of Mexico. The town is at 




LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 29 

the mouth of the Rio Grande. If there is no change in 
the present relations between this country and Mexico, 
we will probably remain there all summer. We will 
relieve two regiments of regulars. 

We are a part of the U. S. Regular Army now. I 
have received my first promotion. It does not amount 
to much — means $3 a month additional, making my pay 
the stupendous sum of $18 per month. Besides this, we 
will receive a food allowance and a clothing allowance. 
I am now known as a first-class private, one of four 
chosen from the company. First line privates in a 
machine gun company load the gun, and, in case of 
accident to the gunner, take his place. The next non- 
coms will be chosen from the first-class privates. 

Will write more later. It is anything but easy to 
write on one's knees in a swaying, pitching old rattlebox 
of a car. There are 750 men and officers on this train. 
Ohio is flat and rather monotonous. It must have been 
beautiful at Pittsburg before a factory or a signboard 
was erected there. 

Have Rob give this letter to Walter, as I know he 
will be waiting to hear from us. If there are any good 
pictures of the regiment leaving New York in the illus- 
trated sections of the Sunday papers, clip them out and 
save them for me. 

Love to all, 

Kenneth. 



30 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

LETTER II 

In the Southwest, En Route. — Impressions Gath- 
ered ON THE Way. 

June 30, 1916. 

Dear Mama and Family: 

We are nearing the Texas line. Oklahoma is very 
picturesque. Until we got to Muskogee, a city of 30,000 
inhabitants, it was as flat as a table. Afterwards it 
becomes quite hilly, but as we approach Texas we have 
run into the plains again. The country is very impres- 
sive. You can look all the way to the horizon and see 
nothing but one vast expanse of flat country. We are 
being transported over the Missouri, Kansas and Texas 
R. R. We followed the Missouri River across Missouri 
to Sedalia, a city of 50,000 people. The valley of the 
Missouri is beautiful. There is nothing grand about it, 
but very pleasing to the eye. Corn and wheat seem to be 
about the only crops, the wheat being cut and ready for 
threshing, and as we progress further south it is being 
threshed. The valley is very wide, and the soil looks 
worth a million dollars. Have passed wheat and corn 
fields that one cannot see across. 

Muskogee, Okla., is a very fine city. It is situated 
in the Oklahoma oil district, and consequently is one of 
the richest cities in the State. We got pretty well over 
the town. The post-oflice is one of the finest buildings I 
have ever seen. All this part of the country has had its 
hands in the pork-barrel at Washington and has brought 
them out full. One town of twenty or thirty houses that 
we passed has a post-office that must have cost $25,000. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



31 



We are passing through what used to be Indian Ter- 
ritory, but have seen no Indians, with the single excep- 
tion of East St. Louis, where some were working on the 
railroad tracks. The temperature is about lOO degrees, 
but we do not feel it ; that is, not so much as you might 
expect. There seems to be no wind in this part of the 
country. Since leaving St. Louis there has not been a 




Officers of the Seventh. 

Chaplain McCord, Capt. Despard, Capt. Gardner and 

Col. Willard C. Fisk (left to right). 

breeze, except that made by the motion of the train, 
which same motion, by the way, is responsible for this 
exhibition of penmanship. Natives say they have very 
little wind until a cyclone comes along. 

People come down here to farm, and have started to 
plant all along the railroad. They pitch a tent and 
immediately start to prepare the ground. If there are 



32 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

trees on it, they cut a ring around the butt, to kill it, and 
then get at their ploughing and planting. This part of 
the State seems to be just opening up. There are no 
orchards to speak of. 

We have been given a great reception all along the 
route. When we pull into a depot, the whole confounded 
town makes a rush for the train. Everything is different 
— the people, their dress and their talk. A great many 
things are cheaper than in New York, but not as good. 
Silver dollars are more plentiful than bills. Enclosed is 
a clipping from the Richmond, Ind., Palladium. It will 
give you an idea of the fuss people here are making 
over us. 

Have crossed the Red River and have passed into 
Texas since I started tO' write. Have just pulled into 
Denison, but they will not allow us to leave the train. 
Save any clippings about the regiment you think are 
worth saving. Looks now as if we are to be allowed to 
get off, so will bring this to a hurried close. 

Kenneth. 

LETTER HI 
The Arrival at Mc Allen. — Pitching Camp. 

McAllen, Tex. 
Monday, July 3, 1916. 
Dear Mother: 

Arrived yesterday, but have not had a chance to 
write. Work, work, work! The heat is awful; ther- 
mometer 118°. The day before it went to 128°. Arrived 
at 10 A. M., and by 11.30 every tent was up. Had to 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 33 

clear out a big company ground of cactus and chaparral. 
Everything one touches has stings in it. Our destina- 
tion was changed. Will write when I get an opportunity. 

Kenneth. 

LETTER IV 

The Black Belt of Texas. — San Antonio. — Making 
Camp. — Making Acquaintance with the Flora 
AND Fauna of the Border. — An Impres- 
sive Religious Service. 

Mc Allen, Tex., July 3, 19 16. 
Dear Mother, Pop and Family: 

We finally arrived in camp Sunday morning. After 
leaving St. Louis, we ran across the State through the 
Missouri V^alley to Sedalia on the M. K. and T. of Texas. 
Ran through part of Oklahoma, which used to be Indian 
Territory. A great part of it is cultivated, but as a whole 
it looks rather poor. Many of the people live in hovels. 
The country seems to be just opening up. Stopped at 
Muskogee. We passed through the famous Black Belt 
of Texas. This refers tO' the soil, not to the people. I 
never saw such farms. Corn and wheat are the principal 
crops in the northern part of the State, and cotton as you 
progress South. We crossed the Red River, which 
marks the State line, right after lunch ; stopped at Deni- 
son for three-c[uarters of an hour. We made our best 
time through Texas. Ran all afternoon until dark with- 
out seeing hardly a foot of uncultivated land. Towns 
few and far between. The soil is the blackest I have 
ever seen. Texas is a grand State — that is, the northern 



34 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

part of it ; very flat, but rather rougher and gently rolling 
in the central part. As you approach San Antonio the 
sand and desert begin. The sunrises and sunsets are 
the most gorgeous I have ever seen. 

San Antonio is the most interesting city we have 
visited — a very quaint old city, the oldest, I believe, in 
Texas. We were all through the Alamo, where Davy 
Crockett, in 1847, stood off 15,000 Spaniards for fifteen 
days with a garrison of 2,000. The most of the Alamo 
is in ruins. The main hall and confessional room and 
several smaller rooms are still intact, apparently as good 
as the day it was built. The streets of the city are nar- 
row, and most of the buildings are one-story rambling 
affairs, with porches from the roof which extend over the 
sidewalk to the street. The Southern Pacific Railway 
station is beautiful. The city has a plaza and park laid 
out near the station. In it are all the known varieties of 
cacti. There are date and many other palms, banana, 
orange and lemon trees. The place looks like a picture 
of a Spanish city. 

From San Antonio south the country gets dryer and 
dryer. They changed our destination at the last moment, 
as we kind of thought they would. We are fifty miles 
northwest of Brownsville, at McAllen, in Hidalgo Co., 
about three to five miles from the border. The country 
looks terrible. Until the day we arrived they had had no 
rain for fourteen months. We had a stiff shower in the 
afternoon, luckily just as we had our tents in shape. It 
came up without a bit of warning, with a terrible wind. 
It is hot. My heavens! I never knew such heat. Two 
men of my company went down the first day, one right 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



35 



beside me. Nevertheless there is far less chance of being 
overcome by the heat here than in New York, owing to 
the dry climate. 

We have had a lot of hard work to do making the 
camp site. The space allotted to us was covered with 
cacti and chaparral and about a million other thorny 
tropical growths. It had all to be grubbed out to a depth 
of about six inches below the surface and then graded. 




Milton's Seven-Foot Rattlesnake. 

We now have a company ground as flat as a table, with 
every living thing except ourselves and a few unpleasant 
visitors, which I will tell you about later, cleaned off. 

This afternoon we experienced our first sand and 
wind storm. It was certainly fierce, and was followed 
by a violent thunderstorm, which is not over yet as I 
write, and that is why I have time to write this letter. 
Sand is in ever3^thing. When you close your teeth the 



36 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

sand grits between them. I do not exaggerate; it is a 
fact. At night and during thunderstorms we have visit- 
ors in our tents, — namely, rattlesnakes, chameleons, and 
one hundred and one varieties of lizards, tarantulas, and 
scorpions. A rattlesnake thought he would pay a visit 
to the band tent yesterday, and got killed for his pains. 
Opposite us the Second and Twenty-sixth Texas are 
encamped. They killed a rattlesnake yesterday with six- 
teen rattles on him. Several men haA^e been stung by 
scorpions, and several more of the insects have been 
caught. The bite or sting of none of these beasts is fatal. 
Lt. Van Roeder, one of our medical staff, and a promi- 
nent physician of New York, comes from this very part 
of Texas and knows how to treat all these things. Oh! 
this sure is a delightful country. Why anyone will live 
here passes my comprehension. No one but a Mexican 
can stand the climate. Between the hours of lo A. M. 
and 4 P. M., they are the only people you see about. 
As soon as we get to rights we will take it easy too. 

We have reveille at 5.20 A. M., assembly and drill at 
5.30 until 6; mess-call at 6.30, then work until mess-call 
at 12.30; more work until 6, then assembly on the parade 
grounds and regimental manoeuvers; retreat at 6.30; 
mess-call at 7 P. M. ; tattoo at 9 ; call to quarters at 
9.45; first call at 9.55 and taps at 10 P. M. That is our 
day at present. Some day! Gen. Funston is our com- 
mander-in-chief. 

We had religious services, conducted by the chaplain, 
last night. The whole regiment assembled on the parade- 
grounds in hollow square. We were on the eastern wing, 
and therefore faced the west. The sun was just setting. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 37 

I mentioned the beauty of the sunsets before. Our colors 
were in the centre of the square, with the field music. 
The chaplain read the Episcopal service. The whole 
regiment stood at parade rest, every man carefully uni- 
formed and equipped and perfectly aligned. The camp 
was in the background, and on the horizon the sun 
setting in a blaze of glory, everything about our equip- 
ment, tents, combat wagons, etc., dyed in the same glow. 
It was one of the most impressive scenes I have ever 
witnessed. 

Kenneth. 

LETTER V 

The Fourth of July in Camp. — In Hostile Coun- 
try. — The Transformations Caused by a 
Military Life. 

McAllen, Tex., July 4, 19 16. 
Dear Folks: 

This is the Fourth of July, and this is the last place 
in which I ever thought that I would spend it. 

Our first and second battalions went to Brownsville 
and had to be turned back. Two Texas outfits, the 71st 
and ourselves, are encamped just outside the town. I 
believe that vSquadron A, First Cavalry, and the 12th, 
14th and 69th regiments will all be here. 

We were fed on cold rations all the way down, jam, 
beans, corned beef, hash and hardtack principally. We 
were treated as well as could be expected. 

Let Pop send me his Times every morning. Also 
send me the Simunit Herald and write me all the news. 



38 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



There are lots more to tell you about, but it will have 
to keep. An interesting feature is an encampment of 
Mexicans, about 5,000, six miles from us. There is a 
little sniping, but it doesn't amount to much. We have 
thrown out a line and have posted double guards. We 




Wash Day. 

are allowed no liberty, and must not leave camp. Men 
who go outside on the various details carry arms with 
one cartridge thrown into the chamber, rifle or automatic 
cocked and on safety. We do not let any Mexican come 
nearer than ten or twelve feet. We are in hostile country, 
and cannot afford to take chances. The discipline is 
strict to an extreme degree. It is the only way. The 
sanitary arrangements are excellent. 

Now I suppose this all reads a great deal worse than 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 39 

it really is. We are having a good time. Let Walter 
read this, as I simply cannot get the time to write another 
letter of this length. 

Bob Rieser is cooking for our company as well as for 
his own. He said he never would have dreamed when I 
was selling him electros that he would be cooking my 
meals on the Mexican Border. 

Don't laugh, but I am on the permanent carpenter 
detail. Have been building mess tables all morning with 
Vernon Henry and a man named Waldo. 
Love to all, 

Kenneth. 

LETTER VI 

Letter- Writing Under Difficulties. — Scorpions, 

Tarantulas, Heat, Rain and Thirst. — Mules 

AND How TO Restore Lost Ones. — National 

Guard Becomes U. S. Army. 

McAllen, Tex., July 5, 1916. 
Dear Walter: 

The writing facilities are not of the best. This is 
written on the back of my mess-kit, which is perched on 
my knees. We will have a tremendous camp here in 
another week. Gen. Dyer has arrived, and Gen. O'Ryan 
is expected this week. 

We continue to have trouble with scorpions, tarantu- 
las and centipedes. The rattlesnakes seem to have been 
killed off or scared away. We have had several men 
affected by the heat, two of them in our squad, but not 
seriously. Only one man went out completely. 



40 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



There had been no rain here for fourteen months 
before we came, and now it rains every afternoon, 
although the rain}^ season is not due until August. The 
heat is the worst. It was 122'' this afternoon in the sun 
and 112^ in the shade. We get so thirsty that it nearly 
drives us crazy, and they won't let us drink. The water 
has petroleum in it, owing to the oil in the ground. Oat- 




BuiLDiNG.AN Incinerator. 
(Corp. Henry, Lt. McOuaid, Pvt. Jones.) 

meal is dumped into the water by the H. C. You can 
imagine the result. When a man starts drinking root- 
beer, ginger-ale and so forth, down he goes. 

Take my word for it, the mess is O.K. We get fresh 
corn, excellent tea and coffee, both hot and iced, steak, 
bacon, beef, hash, rice pudding, pork and beans, macaroni 
baked with cheese, etc., and all excellently cooked. 

The First Cavalry came in this morning, and Dick 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



41 



with them. They will camp above us about a mile away. 
Things are very quiet. There is a good deal of sniping, 
but no one seems tO' get hit. We have had no trouble, 
but some of the other outfits have had. The dope points 
to our being here until after election day. The news- 
papers all have correspondents here. The Tunes man 
came into our street the other morning and interviewed 







Semi-Weekly Clean-Up of Quarters. 

me for an hour. He is going tO' photograph our outfit, 
guns, mules and all, and to write us up. So keep your 
eye on the N. Y. Times. 

Our mules and horses came in yesterday. The M. G. 
Co. unloaded 137 mules and 68 horses. The mules cost 
the Govt. $300 apiece, and are beauties. I can't hand 
the horses much. It is exceedingly difficult to get good 
mounts for the army, as Europe has gobbled up every- 



42 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

thing. Every animal we received has to be broken. The 
mules are the worst. It takes from eight to twelve men 
to take them off the cars to the corral. We lost two. 
The last seen of them they were headed over the border. 
Now we will have to steal two from some other outfit. 
Almost got two from the First Field Hospital Corps this 
morning, but were prevented by one of our own fool 
sentries. I had the pleasure of going on guard over the 
contrary brutes from 2 A. M. until 6 this morning. 
Have been working on my carpencer detail all morning, 
this being mess hour. It is h to be a private. 

This stealing stunt may sound funny to you, but the 
first thing I learned is that in the army you must never 
under any circumstances borrow anything, and never 
must you be short of anything. Enough said. 

Before we left Jersey City, Mr. C told me that 

there was a movement on foot to buy a field kitchen for 
the M. G. Co. of the Seventh, this to be subscribed for 
by Summit people. It is the finest thing we could get. 

The National Guard is gone until we are mustered 
out of the Federal service. We are known as the Sixth 
Division of the U. S. Army, New York being the only 
State to furnish a complete division. 

Your sincere friend. 

Ken. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 43 

LETTER VII 

Rain and Drill. — A Visit to Hidalgo. — Wants and 

Needs. — Erroneous Reports in Press. — 

Texas Mud. 

''Camp Alkali," Tex., July 12, 19 16. 

Dear Mama, Pop and Family: 

We are having an easy two hours, owing to a rain- 
storm, which has lasted thirty-six hours and still going 
strong, so am taking the opportunity to write. Have not 
heard from you yet. It seems as though we had been here 
a month. Most of the hard work has been done, and 
the drills have set in. At 5.15 A. M. we have a half- 
hour of physical drill, then mess, then infantry drill, fol- 
lowed by automatic pistol and machine gun drill, etc. 
Am very busy learning the Morse wig-wag code and the 
semaphore signal system. We will soon get field and 
truck work. 

Yesterday Vernon Henry and I hired an automobile 
and went to the border, a ride of about five miles. We 
went to the town of Hidalgo, which used to be the county 
seat of Plidalgo Co. It is a typical border town, which 
has been deserted and is now occupied by about seventy- 
five Mexicans, who till the soil after a fashion and keep 
large herds of goats. The town is situated on the banks 
of the Rio Grande. The only white men in it are the 
Customs officials and the regular border patrol. There is 
a very pretentious building which used to be the town 
hall. It is three stories high, and on the roof has a 
cupola about a story and a half high, making a little more 



44 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



than four stories altogether. We went up and had a most 
wonderful view of the country for miles around. It 
stretches away as far as the eye can see as flat as a 
pancake, without a single break on the horizon. Mexico 
looks the same as Texas. 

There is an observer continually in this town, either 
an officer or a non-com of the regular army. Right 




The Rio Grande. 
View from Hidalgo. 



Opposite Hidalgo is a Mexican village, which has also 
been deserted. The lookout in the town told us that, up 
until the night before last, there were about 800 Mexican 
cavalry encamped there. They had been watching them 
very closely, but they had slipped away in the night with- 
out a sound. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 45 

The Rio Grande is a dirty, muddy stream, about a 
hundred or a hundred and fifty feet wide at Hidalgo. 
The two shores are reached by means of two cable ferries. 
We saw Mexicans walking about on the opposite shore, 
but they did not appear to be armed. We presented a 
beautiful target against the banks of the river, if they 
had cared to try their luck. 

Jun Willis received a letter from Mr. Franklin saying 
that the ladies of the N. D. O. would send a box down 
with anything we wanted. We are going to ask them for 
socks (which we cannot buy here), compasses, and two 
or three U. S. topographical maps of Texas. That is 
the list so far. I sadly need socks; sent my good ones 
to a laundry in Brownsville and they came back about five 
inches long — absolutely ruined. 

Have had another terrible misfortune: broke both of 
my pipes, but have managed to whittle down the stems 
and make new plugs. We cannot even buy a pipestem. 

We have been receiving copies of the Summit Herald 
and Record, which I believe will be sent regularly. 

It looks as if we will be here until November; sup- 
plies are ordered until then. They are issuing us two 
extra pairs of shoes, three extra pairs of breeches and 
shirts, so it looks as if we were here for awhile. We 
will be part of the border patrol. There are three bat- 
talions in the regiment, and they will take turns patrolling 
at intervals of eighteen days, each on duty six days at a 
time, using this camp as a base. What disposition will be 
made of the M. G. Co. I don't know. 

It is still raining, and the company streets are canals, 
but we are very dry in the tents. Everything is very 



46 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

damp and sticky. The carpenter detail has just com- 
pleted door-sills and mud-racks for each tent. The rain 
and mud make no difference with our work and drills; 
they go on just the same. 

Have been reading the New York papers. They are 
full of bosh; very little concerning even our every-day 
camp life is told straight. The camp is full of reporters. 
I enclose a clipping from the Times. It is absolutely un- 
true. How a woman in New Jersey can know anything 
about it beats me. The only thing there is any legitimate 
complaint about is the cjuantity of food issued by the 
U. S. Q. M. Dept. VVe have got around that by chipping 
in and partially buying our own supplies. 

Never mind about sending the papers down; we get 
plenty of them. Save any pictures of the regiment or 
camp in the Sunday supplements. Keep an account of 
the things I ask you to send down, and I will settle up 
when I get home. Would send the money, but my cash is 
running low, and I don't know when they intend to pay 
us. Health is still good, as is that of everyone else from 
Summit. 

I went over to see Dick the other day, but he had got 
leave and gone to town. His outfit is encamped about 
two miles from us. 

Capt. Gordon Johnson, of the regular army, has 
taken active command of the Twelfth N. Y., encamped 
next to us. He is the man who spoke at the preparedness 
meeting in Summit. 

July 14. 

It has taken three different days to write this letter. 
It is still raining, and this place is a quagmire. Our 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 47 

shoes, leggings and breeches up to our waists are cov- 
ered with mud. It sticks Hke plaster, and has to be 
scraped off with a knife. I have never seen such mud. 
The soil here is very peculiar. When we arrived there 
had been no rain for fourteen months, and consequently 
there was about six inches of dust and sand. The rain 
has transformed this into a heavy clinging mud. 
With love, 

Kenneth. 

LETTER VIII 

The Weather Becomes Fine. — Regiment Gaining 

Proficiency. — Exterminating Vermin. — Camp 

Best Place to Learn to Care for One's 

Health. — V^ery Comfortable_, But 

Don't Mention String Beans. 

McAllen, Tex., July 15, 1916. 
Dear Mama, Pop, Marj. and Rob: 

Received your letter last night, and you don't know 
how glad I was to hear from you. 

It has stopped raining, and the weather is beautiful. 
Last night was perfect, with a fine, cool breeze; in fact, 
we needed our blankets for the first time. The wind has 
shifted, and is coming direct from the Gulf. The change 
is wonderful. It is like that described by Kipling in **0n 
the Road to Mandalay." That best indicates how it 
strikes me. 

I am going to town this afternoon, and I guess I will 
have some pictures taken. The town photographer has 



48 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

been doing a rushing business. He charges a dollar a 
dozen for post-card photos. 

We start out of camp next week in heavy marching 
order. The men are going to be gradually speeded up 
until they can do twenty miles a day in heavy, and thirty 
miles a day in light, marching order, that being the 
infantry regulation for distance. I guess we won't see 
Mexico except from this side. I can easily appreciate the 




Cleaning Up Under Tents. 

dangers of an armed camp now. As the regiment is get- 
ting more familiar with the ways of an army, and waxing 
exceedingly proficient in the use of arms and in drill, there 
is a growing restlessness. Everyone seems to want to 
see how things would work ont in action. I think that 
this will pass when we are here another month or so, and 
all get tired and sick of waiting. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 49 

The pests I spoke of before are disappearing. We 
have very Httle trouble with tarantulas, scorpions, etc., 
now. We had our first battle the other day, when the 
whole regiment was armed with pails of hot water. 
Tarantulas live in holes in the ground about one and a 
half inch in diameter. The water is poured down the 
holes, and the tarantulas soon come out in double quick 
time, and get slammed with a mallet. Simple, isn't it? 

Don't worry about my health. We have some of the 
most prominent doctors and surgeons in New York down 
with us, besides a very efficient hospital corps, with three 
dentists. The men who have been bothered the most are 
the ones who have been drinking pop and the rest of the 
slop that is sold just outside the picket lines and in town. 
A place set up near our camp laid forty-two men flat on 
their backs in one day. The physician, upon investiga- 
tion, found it was bad milk that did it. They made short 
work of the fellow w^ho ran that joint. The soda, ginger- 
ale, root-beer, etc., is all artificially colored and flavored, 
and is just so much poison; yet men will drink four or 
five bottles of it at a time, despite explicit instructions to 
leave it alone. A military camp is the best place in the 
world for a man to learn to care for himself. We have 
some cases of dysentery. As soon as a man is sick, it 
does not make any difference what his symptoms are, he 
is immediately isolated. 

I have thanked Heaven a dozen times since I have 
been here that I can do a day's work. For this very 
reason, I have had to do more than my share ; but would 
rather have it that way than get sick. When a man gets 
sick, the burden thrown on the others is just so much 



50 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



greater, because they have his work to do as well as their 
own. The same work would have to be done if we only 
had ten men in the company able and well. Eddy has 
also been well. 

You can all think of me as being very comfortable, 
and having a very interesting, instructive and enjoyable 
experience. The drills are very interesting and absorb- 
ing. Take everything you 
read in the papers with a 
grain of salt. I read a story 
in the Times yesterday about 
a sentry of the Seventh being 
shot at. That is untrue ; noth- 
ing in it at all. 

For Heaven's sake don't 
mention string-beans again, 
or I will desert. I think often 
of the garden. We cannot 
get fresh vegetables. Potatoes 
and onions, and sometimes 
carrots, are sent from Dallas. 
The country has been for- 
aged over for thirty miles 
around the camp, and con- 
sequently is bare of anything edible. 

I am terribh/ sorry that your not hearing from me 
caused concern. The mails have been so badly handled 
that the regiment has taken over its own collecting and 
distribution now. Am waiting for a letter from Walter. 
With love, and hoping you are all well, 

Kenneth. 




LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 51 

LETTER IX 

Learning Mule. — ''Some" Food Furnished^ But 

Comforts Have to be Bought. — Friends at 

Home Remembering the Men. — 

Knocking Wood. 

McAUen, Tex., July 19, 19 16. 
Dear Pop: 

Received your letter yesterday, also the Jersey Bulle- 
tin. Read your article, which certainly is good. Have 
been reading of the terrible heat you have been having 
in New York, which wound up with that thunderstorm 
which did so much damage. Old New York is certainly 
having her troubles just at present, and, believe me, 
some 10,000 of her citizens are having their troubles 
outside of the State. 

Sunday we had our first day off. Did practically 
nothing all day. Our company in particular needed the 
rest, for on top of a hard two-weeks' work we hiked the 
mules ten miles on Saturday afternoon, and then went 
for a four-mile hike with the regiment at night. Sunday 
I went over to the First Cavalry camp and spent the 
afternoon with Dick. He has brought his own horse 
with him, a present from Mr. Hubbs, as they did not 
want him to take a chance with the horse the Govt, 
would supply. The horse cost $500, and he had to sell 
it to the Government for $130, that being the regulation. 
Dick was glad tO' see me, and I was certainly glad to 
see him. We never dreamed that we would be visiting 
each other on the Mexican border. 



52 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

We sent away two companies to the border last night. 
They will return in six days and then two more will go, 

etc. The regiment sent a battalion out on a ten-day 

hike yesterday afternoon, and two men died and forty- 
two dropped out of ranks before dark. They had to 
bring the whole battalion back. Why men in their condi- 
tion are sent out I cannot understand. 

We are very busy breaking our mules to the pack 
and training them to follow in trace. I did not know a 
thing about mules, but believe I am learning fast. I have 
been assigned my animal. While leading her along, she 




has a delightful little trick of catching the slack in the 
seat of my breeches and hanging on like a bulldog. 
Once they are broken they are all right. A mule makes 
a great pet ; and are three times more affectionate than a 
horse. My mule will grab my hand in her mouth and 
squeeze very gently, hardly enough to mark the skin. 
We had a regular circus performance when first we 
packed them. I took some pictures, and hope they will 
come out good. The mules are beginning to sub- 
mit calmly now, so we do not anticipate any more 
trouble. 

I received the films, and hope to get some good pic- 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 53 

tures with them. Wrote in my last letter for some socks, 
which I hope are on the way, as I have to borrow socks. 
They are a terrible problem with the whole camp. The 
men all sent them to that confounded laundry in Browns- 
ville, and of course they were all ruined. 

I am afraid I shall have to ask you for $io. I 
thought I could get along, but find I can't. There have 
been a lot of assessments for comforts, such as floors 
for the tents, which, by the way, we have not been able 
to put in yet, owing to a lack of lumber; also for mess, 
etc. I have spent a good deal for stuff, of course. Have 
bought oranges and lemons and crackers. The first two 
are great to eat in this climate. The Govt, does nothing 
except to furnish equipment and some food. 

The weather continues hot as blazes during the day, 
but it has cooled off at night lately, and therefore we 
have no kick on that score. The families of the men are 
sending all kinds of stufi^. My squad leader is the son 
of the owner of the Ringler Brewery, which is one of the 
largest in the country, I think, and his family send a box 
every week. The stuff they send is fine — nothing fool- 
ish, but good, substantial food. It has been necessary to 
form a mail detail, and men from each company go to 
the Regimental P. O. with wheelbarrows. I have a great 
longing for some cookies, Mama; won't you make some 
and send them down. They are as good a thing as we 
can eat. We get very little sweet stuff. One of the men 
received some, and they were the best thing that has 
struck this camp so far. 

Pop says the weeds are growing just the same. 
Nuisance that they are, I wouldn't mind looking at some 



54 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

good green chickweed right now, after three weeks of 
this barren waste. 

Now that the Mexican situation has cleared up, I 
imagine that they will make a lot of experiments with us 
and try out some things that have long been in the minds 
of the officers. Gen. Cornelius Vanderbilt inspected our 
camp yesterday. 

Am well and taking good care of myself. Everyone 
from Summit has been sick now, except Eddie and 
myself. I am knocking wood. 

Ken. 

LETTER X 

A Welcome Gift from Summit. — Flooded Out. — A 
Theoretical Night Attack.^ — A 
Refractory Mule. 

Mc Allen, Tex., July 20, 19 16. 
Dear Walter: 

George Slate sent me an express package containing 
six pounds of Durham, 450 Fatima cigarettes, and two 
large boxes of Spearmint chewing gum, which I dis- 
tributed. 

Continued, Aug. ist. 

It has rained here steadily for the last four days. 
Conditions are terrible. Our tent was flooded and every- 
thing soaked, but we managed to get dry before the 
next storm hit us. We had dug two big holes back of 
our tent to take the overflow from the tent ditch. A 
day before this rainy spell they made us fill them in, 
consequently the water, finding no vent, backed up. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



55 



through the doorway and flooded us. This happened 
about 2,30 A. M. We spent the balance of the night 
sitting on our ditch dykes. The morning after I got 
busy and built a cot for myself. The Govt, was supposed 
to issue them, but, like a lot of other things, they have 
failed to materialize. 

Sunday evening we were revife^ed by a Mexican 




Breast-Works. 



general of Carranza's army. We were the only regi- 
ment Gen. O'Ryan selected from the division for the 
review. The Mexican had his staff with him. 

We had a theoretical night attack last week, in which 
all the troops at McAllen took part. We packed our 
first two mules, which are the gun mules, also their 
ammunition mules, in two minutes, and got the other two 



56 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

guns off in four minutes, fifteen mules in all. You can- 
not appreciate this unless you saw what we had to pack. 
And two weeks ago not one of the mules would submit 
to even a blanket being put on him. We have one animal 
that we cannot pack. She is the most beautiful mule 
we have, but has been spoiled. The captain wanted to 
make one more try, so he detailed two sergeants and 
myself. We managed to get a blanket and corona on 
her, but when it came to putting on the aparejo' (which 
is a heavy leather pack fitted tO' the animal's back, and 
over which the pack-frames fit), the fun was on. We 
had both a twitch and a break on her, and when she felt 
that weight on her back she left the ground with all 
four feet and went straight up in the air, and I with her. 
She broke the break and the twitch. I had the reins and 
the bridle, and when the twitch broke it threw the man 
holding it. Consequently the whole force of the ani- 
mal's lunge came on me. I had a narrow escape, but 
managed to hang on, and thus avoided being hurt. After 
she had bucked everything off her back, she quieted 
down. 

If this rain keeps up, the whole regiment will have 
to strike camp and move out. The ground is getting 
terribly soft, and the regular roads have two and three 
feet of water on them. This country is so flat that water 
will not drain off, and the soil is so hard that it will not 
absorb, consequently the water just lies on the surface. 

Yours, 

Ken. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 57 

LETTER XI 

The Comfort of a Good Smoke. — Sandstorm and 
Rainstorm. — An Incursion of Frogs. — A De- 
scription OF McAllen. — More to Eat Now 
Than They Can Get Away With. 

McAllen, Tex., July 22, 1916. 
Dear Walter: 

I received your cigars two days after your last letter. 
To say that I was more than glad to receive them is put- 
ting it mildly. I generally smoke one after drill at night 
while lying on my back in my tent in the darkness. To 
lie thus and listen to the varied sounds that arise from 
the camp, smoking a good cigar, is the best part of a 
long, hard day. 

Our spell of fine nights was suddenly brought to an 
end last night, when we had a terrible dust-storm, fol- 
lowed by a violent thunder-storm. The wind and sand 
were terrible. It was an absolute impossibility to face it. 
You could not see two feet ahead of you. This lasted 
about forty-five minutes, and then came the blessed rain, 
which made a lake of the drill-grounds and transformed 
the company streets into canals. The insides of the 
tents were as dry as a bone, owing to our ditching sys- 
tem. A peculiar thing was the sudden appearance of 
about two and a half million frogs in camp. Back of 
our camp and at the ends of the company streets our 
latrines are situated. They are about 1000 feet from 
camp. This space has always been as dry as a bone until 
last night, when it was flooded. A half hour after the 
rain had started this place was full of croaking frogs. I 



58 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



never heard the h"ke of it. Standing beside them, you 
had to yeh to make yourself heard. By the way, I was 
out in both the sand-storm and the rain, as I was doing 
my watch on the picket line. Came in soaked absolutely 
to the skin. 

Am sending a couple of pictures home, which you will 
ask Rob to show you. They are of our pets, the mules. 




Trench-Digging. 



Mc Allen is about seven years old, and has lain in a 
semi-dormant condition until the arrival of the troops, 
when it awoke and is growing like magic. Restaurants, 
lunch-rooms, bottling works, photograph studios, ice- 
cream parlors, fruit- stands, shooting-galleries, etc., have 
sprung up over night like mushrooms. Someone told me 
an undertaker had moved in with a supply of one hun- 
dred coffins. Rotten, squalid rooms in rickety one-story 
frame buildings have been fumigated and leased as sleep- 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 59 

ing-rooms for reporters, camera men and their ilk. The 
town also has a typical Western saloon, such as we all 
have read about in Western stories. It is of the swing- 
door, sawdust-floor variety. Around it are always a few 
cowboys and some of the picturesque Texas Rangers, 
their broncos tied to a hitching-bar near the door. In 
the Mexican quarter is one of the old buckhorn saloons, 
which reminds me of the Quiet House in Hoboken. It is 
more a museum than anything else. Stuffed rattlesnakes, 
armadillos, pumas, wolves, coyotes, and deer-heads are 
all over the place. This place is patronized almost 
exclusively by Mexicans of all kinds. They always have 
a cabaret, consisting of mandolins, guitars and a flute or 
two. The music they play is purely Mexican and Span- 
ish. Some of it is very weird and melancholy, while 
some is light and very beautiful. 

There is but one residential street, known as Park 
Drive. There is a large park with a grove of palm and 
banana trees, and just beyond a fenced-off space with a 
dozen or so of brushdeer in it. This spot is very beauti- 
ful, it being like an oasis in a desert. 

Our men have returned from their hike and border 
patrol. Not a man dropped out of ranks, and they went 
out in heavy marching order. 

Thank you for the Cincinnati offer; it is very 
thoughtful; but do not send anything, as we have a great 
deal more to eat now than we can get away with. Food 
is inspected, and must come up to specifications. Cigar- 
ettes I can buy at the army post. If I start smoking any- 
thing better, I am afraid I will ruin a cultivated taste 
for what I can buy. 



60 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

Tell your father if he sends any more diagrams like 
that which he put on the outside of the cigarbox, he will 
be responsible for a desertion. He would not like to see 
me in Fort Leavenworth. 

Kenneth. 

LETTER XII 

Sandstorms and Heat. — The Watch on the Border. 
: — Mess Arrangements. 

McAllen, Tex., July 22, 1916. 
Dear Rob: 

This is just a note, enclosing a couple of photos taken 
of the mule picket and the mule ''experts." You will 
see yours truly on the right, second in the back row. One 
picture is a view of the entire picket line, and the other 
a *'close-up" of the same group. 

Our spell of fine nights was brought to a sudden end 
last night by a terrible sandstorm, which lasted forty-five 
minutes and was followed by a violent thunderstorm, 
which made a lake of the drill-grounds and transformed 
the company streets into canals. 

Junior Willis put his thermometer out in front of his 
tent yesterday and it went up to 136°, which is as far as 
it could register, and then it ''bust." That's a good one 
you can tell. Yesterday was the worst we have had, but 
we worked most of the day, and no one seemed to 
mind it. 

Am still well. Received a letter from Mr. Geistweit 
saying that he hoped I would be able to return during 
September, as if I was not back by that time he would 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



61 



absolutely have to put some one out to solicit business. 
In any event, he assured me, my position would be open 
on my return, vlt is perfectly reasonable to expect that 
they will have to put a man on. In fact, some one ought 
to be chasing ''prospects" now. 

Sunday, July 23, 19 16. 
Went to Hidalgo again today and spent about three 




The Picket Line. 



hours along the border. It is exceedingly interesting. 
We were entertained by some of the regulars stationed 
there. They are a fine lot of men. We have two com- 
panies down there patrolling with them. They have bar- 
riers thrown up, trenches dug, and barbed wire entangle- 
ments, which are charged with electricity at night. Took 
a lot of pictures, which I hope will turn out good. 



62 LETTERS GF A SOLDIER 

Looks as if we will not be home until October or 
November. I understand that there have been several 
protests made by various organizations in New York 
demanding the return of the National Guard. I don't 
have to tell you how much effect they will have. The 
Government, after expending about a million and a half 
in transportation alone, is not going to ship us right back 
home. 

Everyone's health is good. The most common com- 
plaint is the "midnight quickstep." The doctors say it 
is caused by the ice cream and pop the men consume. 
Our mess is fine now ; have got it running. We are on 
the Regular Army basis ; that is, instead of taking the 
food the Government supplies, we take the money allow- 
ance and run our own mess. This allowance at present 
is 26 cents per man per day. Adding to this our 50 
cents per man per week, we do as well as is possible in 
this country. 

Hoping you are all well. 

Ken. 

LETTER XIII 

Hiking. — Revolver Practice. — Some Natural His- 
tory. — A Texas Farm. — Fine Skirmishing 
Country. — McAllen and its Saloons. — 
The Mexican Bird Scavenger. 

McAllen, Tex., July 27, 19 16. 
Dear Pop and Mama: 

Received Pop's letter, and the pipes Rob sent, yester- 
day. The socks came the day before, all of them most 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



63 



welcome. Have received everything", and am now wait- 
ing for the money, as I have not a cent and owe two 
dollars. 

We have started hiking at evening; that is, instead 
of a gun or close order drill during the evening drill 
period, we march. We leave at 6.40, and generally 
get back between 8.00 and 8.15. As a rule, we do 




Burning the Picket Line. 



about five miles. These walks are very popular. We 
get over the country, which is very interesting. The 
shooting is very fine in season, quail and wild pigeon 
being the best wild game. We take the old Mexican 
trails through the mesquite, which are so narrow in 
places that we have to execute right by twos. The quail 
are very plentiful, and as we move along they run in all 



64 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

directions, and get behind cover and watch us. They 
remind me of 3^our stories of the partridge in New 
Brunswick. We always see a hundred and one varieties 
of snakes, most of which are very briUiantly colored. 
Texas has the largest blacksnakes I have ever seen, about 
five feet long. Every two minutes a hare, with long ears 
like a mule's, and about twice the size of our rabbits, 
scuttles ofi' through the chaparral like a streak. 

Yesterday we marched to the range, a distance of four 
miles, and spent the day at revolver practice. The army 
.45 is certainly a wicked weapon. My scores are not 
worth writing about. There was a lot of excellent shoot- 
ing, the highest score being 189 out of a possible 200, 
made by Major Waterbury, of the Regular Army. The 
regulars generally did not shoot any better than our men. 

On our way to the range we passed an enormous 
farm, which is owned by a man named Shary, who, I 
believe, lives in New York. He has acres and acres of 
sugar-corn and grape-fruit, which is just ripening. He 
has a lot of banana trees planted, but they had no fruit 
on them. Have not found out yet just when they bear. 
He has a pumping station of his own, which pumps 
water tapped from one of the main irrigation canals. 
All water is pumped, of course, from the Rio Grande. 
The grape-fruit is a very beautiful tree. It seems to grow 
about the size of a medium-sized peach tree, only it is 
much more stocky, and the branches very thick. The 
leaves are very similar to those of the privet, and are 
a most beautiful golden green. The fruit now is a 
rather brownish green. This farm has also enormous 
fields of cotton and broom-corn. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 65 

July 28, 19 1 6. 

I do not seem to be able to finish a letter the same 
day I start it. I just get started when along comes the 
first sergeant calling for a detail. 

We went for another hike this morning, making about 
twelve miles. We drilled in signals and in taking cover, 
out on the waste about seven miles from camp. This 
country is just built for skirmishing, as it is very easy to 
take cover. A whole company can advance by crawling 
on their bellies and never be seen. On a dark day and 
in the evening the color of the ground blends so well 
with the O. D.* uniform that a man is almost invisible. 

McAllen is growing faster than any town I have 
ever seen. Soda-water fountains, ice-cream parlors, 
photographic galleries, shooting-galleries, restaurants, 
moving-picture houses and so forth have been built 
almost overnight. Old two-room, one-story houses, 
which are squalid and overrun with vermin, are being 
cleaned out and rented as sleeping places for the hosts 
of reporters, salesmen, photographers and fly-by-nights 
that have invaded the place. The Mexican quarter runs 
in an unbroken circle around the outskirts of the town. 
Speaking of the Mexicans reminds me that I must tell 
you of a funny thing I saw in one of their hovels. On 
the floor were piled a few dishes, an alarm clock and a 
picture- frame with nothing in it, while on the wall they 
had hung the baby ! 

There are two saloons in town. The one patronized 
by white people is a typical Western saloon, the like of 
which is described in every story of early days in the 
West. It has sawdust on the floor and swinging doors, 

*01ive drab. 



66 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

and you see cowboys and Texas Rangers gallop up at 
full speed, throw their broncos on their haunches, hurl 
themselves off and swagger into the bar-room. There 
is a long wooden hitching-bar in front, to which they tie 
their horses. The other saloon is in the Mexican quar- 
ter, and is of the buckhorn variety. It resembles a 
museum more than it looks like a gin-mill. There are 
deer and goat heads, stuffed wolves, wild-cats, rattle- 
snake skins, armadillos, ground-squirrels and other ani- 
mals and birds that inhabit this part of Texas. This 
place is patronized for the most part only by Mexicans. 

I had a good look at what the natives call the Mexi- 
can vulture the other day. We have a division dumping 
grounds, and there is always a lot of buzzards hovering 
over it. They are a very repulsive-looking bird. I 
believe that in Mexico they walk around in the streets 
of the towns. 

I am enclosing a few leaves of the mesquite tree. I 
have spoken of it so often that I thought you might be 
curious to know just what the leaves look like. This 
tree never grows more than fifteen or twenty feet high. 
Its limbs are scraggly and the foliage very thin. So you 
see that even if you get into a whole grove of them they 
afford very little shade. 

Pop says that he may eventually get down to Texas. 
For Heaven's sake don't get intO' this part of it. The 
northern part of Texas is wonderful, but this country is 

h . Texas is not the only State whose percentage of 

enlistments is ridiculous, although that, of course, has 
nothing to do with the point raised by the Post. 

No one knows how long we will be here. We are 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 67 

fixing this place up, I believe, for a regular army post. 
I can explain it in no other way, unless they mean to 
keep us here for an indefinite time, the permanent 
arrangements being made. 

Hoping you are all well, with love, 

Ken. 



LETTER XIV 

Flooded Out. — No Sunday in Camp. — Building 

Roads. — Reviewed by a Mexican General. — 

Reporters Chased. — Y. M. C. A. in the 

Field. — Band Concerts and Shows. 

McAllen, Tex., July 30, 1916. 
Dear Pop: 

FTave just received your money-order, which is cer- 
tainly welcome. 

We had another terrible storm last night, by far the 
worst we have had yet. It flooded us out of our tent, 
and consequently we spent a very uncomfortable night. 
Everything got soaked. We had dug a three- foot ditch 
in the rear of our tent, which took the overflow from the 
tent ditch. Two days ago they made us fill it in, there- 
fore, when the ditch filled up, it had no place to drain, 
so when the water reached the level of the floor, in it 
came. We dried everything out this morning. 

This is Sunday, when, according to regulations, we 
are not supposed to work or drill ; but the last two Sun- 
days have been just the same as other days. This morn- 
ing we had to crown our picket line, which is a terrible 



68 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



job, especially as the storm last night made a quagmire 
of it. I am now off till five o'clock. 

We have built, under the supervision of road engi- 
neers of the regiment, two regimental streets, which will 
last for five years, and over which cavalry and heavy 
wagon trains can pass. A regimental street is different 
from a company street, inasmuch as the former runs the 









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B'T'l 






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mij 


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Third Squad. 

Gadebusch, Thomas, Milton, Gow and Waldo 
(standing) ; Jetter, Harry and Tailer (sitting). 

length of the camp and the latter the width. We now 
have about 18,000 men here, nearly all of whom are 
encamped in a line running straight to the border. All 
of the regiments are making the same kind of a road, so 
you can see when they are all finished there will be a fine 
road tO' the border. The country roads are absolutely 
impassable when it rains. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 69 

Last night we were reviewed by a general of Car- 
ranza's army and his staff. We were the only regiment 
selected by Gen. O'Ryan for the review, and made a 
fine showing. The Mexican and his staff were after- 
wards taken the longest way through the entire division 
on an inspection tour. Gen. Bell, of the Regular Army, 
who commands at Fort Sam Houston, after his inspec- 
tion, stated that we had the best camp in the division. 

There is a very persistent rumor in camp that we will 
be home by Sept. ist. I read a story in one paper quot- 
ing Gen. O'Ryan as saying that the troops would eat their 
Christmas dinner here. He never made such a statement. 
There have been so many false reports and stories of the 
regiment in the papers that Col. Fisk has ordered the 
reporters out of camp, and told them to stay out. I sup- 
pose we will get it now. 

The Army and Navy Y. M. C. A. have erected 
buildings just outside the sentry line of each regiment, 
where men may gO' and write, paper and envelopes being 
furnished them, play checkers, etc. It is very convenient 
and much more satisfactory than writing on your knees 
in your tent. 

We are going to start work tomorrow on a wooden 
cook shack, which will be enclosed by wire screening. 
A mess shack will be similarly constructed. In fact, 
everything we are doing is being put up to stay. I 
think that it all confirms a theory held by a lot of us, 
that we are constructing a permanent army post. Well, 
it is cheap labor for the Government, fifty cents a day 
and grub. 

We are going to be issued socks and underwear, leg- 



70 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

gings and hats if we need them. We are all allowed $48 
for a clothes allowance. Socks are twelve cents a pair 
and underwear twenty-three cents a garment. This is 
cost price, and the stuff in them is very good. 

You mentioned graft in connection with the well- 
boring at Camp Whitman. Here is some more. The 
Regular Army has been in Texas for almost six years, 
and, outside of the large posts, there has not been a 
barracks constructed anywhere along the border, 
although troops have been two and three years in the 
same place. In a great many cases where a certain body 
of troops has been moved their place has been occupied 
by others. Now the perambula canvas tent that we use, 
which is the best money can buy, is absolutely worthless 
after six months. If you wanted to buy one, it would 
cost $72. The Govt, pays $43.75 apiece for them. So 
you see that an army can be housed in barracks a great 
deal cheaper than under canvas. Looks as if some one 
is getting rich out of the army tent contract. 

I have received an express package from Geo. Slate 
with 500 cigarettes, six pounds of tobacco and two large 
boxes of chewing-gum, most of which I have distributed 
amongst the men of the company. 

On our parade grounds a band stand and stage have 
been built. Three nights a week we have band concerts 
and shows. Each regiment takes its turn in entertaining. 
Last week, on Monday night the Twelfth furnished the 
entertainment, the next night the Seventy-first and the 
Seventh on Saturday night. They are all fine, or at least 
we think so. The First and Second Field Artillery have 
two exceedingly fine bands, which are amalgamated and 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 71 

used on these occasions. An average attendance is about 
from eight to ten thousand, and I just wish you could 
hear that crowd sing. The volume is tremendous ; there 
is no use in trying to describe it; I will leave it to your 
imagination. 

Am still well, and as hard as nails. Thank you for 
the money-order. There is no sight or sign of pay day. 

With love to the family, 

Kenneth. 

LETTER XV 

Prospects of Return. — What They May Have to 

Face in Mexico. — Heat and Hard Riding. — 

Clothes Allowance. 

McAUen, Tex., Aug. 5, 1916. 
Dear Marj.: 

The cookies were fine. The night they came another 
fellow, who had some fine Ceylon tea, and I had the 
cookies and tea for mess — finished the whole can. 

There are a whole lot of rumors and speculations as 
to when we will get home. A lot of men seem to think 
we will be home by Sept. i, but I think that if we are 
home in time to vote we will be lucky. I believe Presi- 
dent Wilson has appointed a commission which will con- 
fer with a similar body appointed by the Carranza Govt. 
It will take time to form this body, a«4. when they begin 
conferences it will take still longer before any progress 
will be made. I think we will be here until the results 
of that conference are made public. If a settlement of 



72 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

the differences between the two governments is not 
effected, I don't know what they will do. I am firmly 
convinced that there are no politics in this mobilization, 
and therefore think that as soon as the crisis has been 
passed we will be sent home. We were sent here as the 
resiilt of an emergency order, and not for a period of 
military training, upon the completion of which we would 
be sent home. Therefore, just as soon as there is no 
emergency situation to meet we will be released, the 
New York newspapers notwithstanding. I do not believe 
that Gen. Bell or Gen. O'Ryan know any more about the 
date of our breaking camp than I do, which is nothing. 

Here is what is said to be a positive fact: Between 
Matamoras, which lies to the southeast of us in Mexico, 
to a point opposite El Paso, the Mexican Army have 140 
three-inch field-pieces, all of which were supplied by 
Japan and are manned with Jap gunners. There are 
also a great many Japs serving as ofiicers in Carranza's 
army. Interesting, isn't it? I am sure it would be for 
us, if it became necessary for us to enter Mexico.* 

We are encamped on the same ground upon which 
Gen. Zachary Taylor mobilized his forces prior to his en- 
try into Mexico in 1846. He marched in and captured 
Monterey, which is about 140 miles from here, but I 
believe that is as far as he penetrated that devil's country, 
Mexico. He had about 2,000 men. In the event of 
trouble, Monterey would probably be the first objective 

* "All during the Winter of 1914 in Berlin Germans from the highest down 
tried to impress me with the great danger which they said threatened America 
from Japan. The military and naval attaches of the United States Embassy 
and I were told that the German information system sent news that Mexico 
was full of Japanese colonies and America of Japanese spies. Possibly much of 
the prejudice in America against the Japanese was cooked up by German 
propagandists, which we later learned to know so well." — Ex-Ambassador Gerard. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



n 



of this division. The country in Mexico is just about the 
same as it is here for the first ten miles. After that there 
is a great desert to cross, if a direct Hne to Monterey is 
taken. This division would probably have to build a 
railroad as it went along. Taylor marched across it, 
but he had only a few troops. 

We have had nothing but rain and extreme heat this 
week. It has been 
hot even for this 
place. But there is 
a limit to the way 
in which you feel 
the heat. We don't 
care whether it is 
120° or 140°; it 
feels the same. I 
am sore and stiff in 
every muscle of my 
body today. We 
went on a ride yes- 
terday morning on 
horses and mules, 
and the captain led 
at a terrible pace. 
We did about seven miles. I did it bareback on an ani- 
mal with a spine four inches high. He was so bad that 
I had to ride on his withers, and consequently got a ter- 
rible shaking up. A few used saddles, but most of the 
men used a blanket and surcingle. When it came to my 
animal the blankets had all been used, therefore the bare- 
back. 



^_^ 






™|^^^^pi^^^ 



Capt. 



Kenneth Gardner Riding 
Through Cacti. 



74 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

The Government allows us $42.75 for a clothes allow- 
ance. I am going to draw it all, and send home what I 
don't need or cannot carry. Have drawn some socks, 
which are very fine, and cost me only 12c a pair. I am 
going to draw another O. D. shirt like the ones issued 
us in New York, cost $1.30, and worth about $3.50 for 
the same thing in N. Y. ; also a pair of hip boots at $2.10 ; 
and I am going to try and get an extra blanket and send 
it home. The cost is $3.60. If you wanted to buy one 
like it in New York, it would cost about $8 or $10. 

There is yet no sign of pay day. I hope it comes soon. 
There is a Mexican woman down by the Rio Grande who 
has some beautiful needlework and mantillas for sale. I 
want to get a mantilla and send it to you. They want a 
lot of money for them, but they are very beautiful. 

Have read about the extremely hot month you have 
had. I suppose the weather has made the weeds grow as 
they did last summer. I can just imagine the corn and 
beans, which will soon be ready. Have Rob tell Walter I 
am waiting for another letter from him. He sent me 
some Machinery Club cigars, which I have just finished, 
and they were certainly fine. 

Love to everyone, 

Kenneth. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 75 

LETTER XVI 

Camp Dysentery and Its Treatment. — A Texas 
''Norther." — Good Points of a Dry Atmos- 
phere. — Weeding Out the Physically 
Unfit. 

Mc Allen, Tex., Aug. 9, 19 16. 
Dear Rob and Family: 

Received your letter and money-order. It was a 
most thoughtful thing for you to do. Nearly all assess- 
ments are finished now, with the exception of mess, so 
will have an easier time. I made a cot for myself, but 
even at that it cost me $1.30 for material. 

I am all alone in the street with the mess sergeant, 
while the company is drilling seven or eight miles away 
in the cactus. I have had a rather bad case of the pre- 
vailing malady. Am well on the road to recovery, but 
still very weak. I could not have had better care or atten- 
tion if I had been home. I am the last man in the com- 
pany to get sick, but got it worse than anyone else. The 
treatment used for this and light cases of dysentery may 
sound peculiar. The first thing given me was a large 
dose of castor oil, with an oil-of-peppermint tablet before 
and after, and then two salol tablets. Every three hours 
I get a dose of castor oil in ice-water and two more salol 
tablets, which are made up of a saline solution, and are 
given to cleanse the intestines. In between these doses 
I take one calomel pill, and when they are all finished 
with the above, will get camphor and opium. Another 
day and I expect to feel myself again, 



76 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

Next week the entire regiment goes on a nine-day 
hike. I don't know whether I will be able to write or 
not, so don't worry if you don't hear from me. 

I have sent pictures and postals recently. Sent four 
of our mule detail with 'Vours truly" in them, and four 
or five panoramic pictures of the camp and camp site. 

We experienced our first Texas ''norther" Saturday 
night. I never knew the wind to blow so hard. All the 
officers' tents, which are A tents, and the cook tents were 
blown flat. None of the tents occupied by the men blew 
down, however, owing to the holding qualities of the 
ground. 

The rain has stopped, and we are having beautiful 
weather again, with a steady breeze blowing from the 
Gulf. It is as hot as ever, but the breeze is cool. The 
air is so dry that I don't believe there is a man in the 
regiment that has found it necessary to blow his nose 
since his arrival here. You wake up in the morning with 
your head as clear as a bell. 

The whole regiment will receive another physical 
examination tomorrow, and those who have developed 
anything serious since leaving New York will either be 
sent to the base hospital at San Antonio or back to New 
York, according to the nature of the ailment. 

The pipes are fine. I have one almost broken in 
already. 

Love to all, 

Ken. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 11 

LETTER XVII 

Breaking Mules. — Eine Care 'During Illness. — 
Praise of the Y. M. C. A. 

McAllen, Tex., Aug. ii, 1916. 

Dear Mama, Pop and Eamily: 

Enclosed you will find some photos taken of us while 
packing our mules. I am registering this letter, as these 
pictures are worth more than their weight in gold to me. 
If they are lost, I would not be able to duplicate them. I 
have made a cross on the back of one I am in. I am on 
the extreme left-hand side of the picture, hanging on to 
the end of the check-rope, and in a squatting position. 
Are not these pictures fine? There is plenty of action in 
every one of them, but even at that they look tame when I 
think of the reality. It speaks well for this company when 
you consider that we broke nineteen green mules in this 
way, and only one man was hurt, and he not seriously. 
Several got minor bruises and kicks that they hardly felt 
next day. 

Am feeling much better today, and expect to be well 
enough in another day or two to get permission to ride 
to town and mail this letter. Have been treated like a 
king during my sickness. Every one has been so consid- 
erate that I cannot help writing about it. Major Fowler, 
who is the ranking officer of the medical staff, took per- 
sonal charge of my case. 

New York is certainly having a tough time of it, with 
the heat, infantile paralysis, explosions and strikes. 

I see that the commission to settle the differences 




Breaking a Green Mule (Billie) to the Pack. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



79 



between the U. S. and Mexico has not been created as 
yet. Carranza seems to be up to his old tricks of quibbhng 
and procrastinating. Meanwhile we remain here and 
wait for the international conference to open. I don't 
think we will receive an inkling of information as to our 
probable return until we see what the result of this con- 
ference will be. 





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At the Picket Line. 



The Y. M. C. A. has done excellent work in the mili- 
tary camps. They very promptly erected twenty or 
more large wooden buildings, one to a regiment as a 
rule, throughout the entire military district. These build- 
ings have been a great convenience to the men. The 
Y. M. C. A. provides paper, pen and ink, and a comfort- 
able place to write for anyone who cares to take advan- 
tage of them. They also make excellent places to hold 



80 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

religious services. I hope money enough will be sub- 
scribed to keep up the good work. 

Never mind about the shaving-brush. The N. D. O. 
sent some. I am going to ride to town to mail this letter, 
and then go and see Dick. Am off for all day, this being 
Saturday, which is always a holiday. Am feeling quite 
myself again. 

Love to all, 

Kenneth. 

LETTER XVIII 

Camp Conditions and Food. — Misleading Reports. — 
The Field Hospital Defended. — Business 
Friends. 

McAllen, Tex., Aug. 13, 19 16. 
Dear Pop, Mama and Family: 

The man Pop refers to is Brig.-Gen. Dyer, who com- 
mands the Second Brigade of the Division, the brigade 
we are in. 

Now I am going to put you straight on conditions in 
camp. You already know how I was treated while I was 
sick. Our grub is good. For instance, we had for break- 
fast this morning an orange, good porridge, omelet, fried 
potatoes and bread and coffee. We have meat three 
times a week, at night, generally steak. We are now 
getting more fresh vegetables. In the course of the week 
we will generally have boiled beets, cabbage, spinach, peas, 
string beans (the last two canned), plenty of onions and 
peppers (which seem to go very well in this climate), all 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 81 

the fresh tomatoes we want, and plenty of corn, black- 
berry jam, and bread and hardtack. The only thing to 
complain of in regard to the mess is its monotony. The 
mess sergeant varies it as much as possible. I sleep on 
a cot, and even the men who do not can keep dry. A tent 
will get flooded once in a while, but is easily dried out. 
There is absolutely no kick on the quarters. We have 
done a lot of work on Sundays, but that has stopped 
now. We get Saturday off after inspection, which gen- 
erally finishes about 9.30 A. M. We can then leave camp 
until 5.40 P. M. Sundays are about the same. We 
worked this morning until 9.00 o'clock, but have been idle 
the rest of the day. I have a little more work than some 
of the others, because I am on the mule detail, and they 
have to be fed and watered three times a day. We are 
allowed to sleep until six o'clock on Sunday morning, 
also, which is almost like home. I am rather surprised 
that you ask me about these things.* 

All packages are delivered direct to the men. The 
Chaplain has nothing to do with them. He has enough 
work of his own without filling his tent with the men's 
mail. This report is a good sample of the absurdity of a 
lot of the newspaper reports. 

There has also been a lot of criticism of the First 
Field Hospital and the treatment of patients. I have read 
that the Field Hospital had no cots for the men and no 
floors. This is a deliberate lie, yet I read it in the Times. 
They have comfortable cots, a raised wooden floor, and, 
besides that, the whole structure is screened. A man 



* Newspaper reports and persistent rumors had it that the men on the Border 
were badly treated. 



82 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

from our company was sent there, and he came back well 
satisfied with the treatment given him. Bad conditions 
may exist in other camps, but they certainly do not here. 
The sanitary precautions taken I have mentioned 
before. 

Falfurrias is located about thirty-five or forty miles 
to the north-northwest of McAllen. The way by train is 
very roundabout. The best way is across country through 
the cactus. Therefore it is about as accessible as New 
York. 

I think that when all is said and done, we have 
received the better deal in the matter of weather. You 
have certainly had a tough summer so far. When we 
have clear weather we need our blankets at night. I will 
not be surprised if we are here for another three months 
or longer. 

It was absolutely necessary for the Hewitt Press to 
put another man out. They have to supply the loss of the 
Tousey magazines. The hard part of it is that some one 
else will get my ''prospects," from whom I had hopes for 
estimates for eight or ten jobs, mostly periodicals. 

James Gabler, of the Stillson Co., the highest class 
and most expensive printers in New York, is down here 
with us, being a member of Company F. I knew him 
very well in New York. Chas. Parker, the owner of the 
Peck Press, a very fine house, is in the same street with 
me here. He is the first sergeant of the Hospital Corps. 
I knew him when I was with Mr. Hopkins. He is 
a very fine man. If Pop sees Mr. Hopkins, let him 
be sure and tell him about Parker, as they are great 
friends. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



83 



Monday, Aug. 14. 

I did not get my letter finished, as you see. Our hike 
has been postponed. We 
start a week from today, 
and will make about a 
hundred miles. We will 
march along the border. 
The whole division will 
go, about 18,000 or 
20,000 troops. 

Sometimes I have a 
saddle and sometimes I 
have not. The military 
style of riding is hard on 
a beginner, and the easi- 
est way to learn is bare- 
back. Send me two more rolls of film. 

Am feeling fine again. 

With love, 

Kenneth. 




LETTER XIX 

The Great Hike. — Another Texas Storm. — A Mule 
Ride. — Pay System ''Considerable of a Puzzle." 

McAUen, Tex., Aug. 21, 19 16. 
Dear Mama and Family: 

Have been extremely busy since last writing you. 
Received both the cookies and fudge, which were fine 
and came in at just the right time. 

We start tomorrow morning on our ninety-mile hike. 



84 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



Have been very busy preparing for it. Will be gone ten 
days on field rations. 

We had a terrible hurricane all day Friday and Fri- 
day night, the like of which I hope never to experience 
again. McAllen was entirely cut off by road, wire and 
rail for two days. The storm tore up everything. 

Am absolutely O. K. again ; in fact, better than I was 
before. After I was sick I weighed in at 155 lbs. — quite 

a drop. Everyone seems 
to be better after they 
have had what I had 
than they were before. 

Another man and I did 
fifteen miles yesterday 
afternoon on mules. We 
used a couple of pack- 
mules which, I think, 
never had had saddles on 
before. That is why we 
went so far. They went 
h — bent-for-election un- 
til they got tired, and 
then we had a pleasant ride home. Consequently am a 
bit galled today, but do not stiffen up any more. 

Will try and send a card while on the hike, but do 
not expect there will be much opportunity. Will be back 
in camp on the morning of my birthday, Sept. ist. 

We were paid last week. Received $15 for the hard- 
est month's work I ever put in. Have $3 more coming 
to me, owing to a mistake in the pay-roll. Will get this 
next month, when I will receive $21. We also received 




On the Skyline. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 85 

the difference between the State pay and the Government 
pay for the week we were in the armory. This was paid 
by the State. We will receive the balance from the Gov- 
ernment. I received $5.25. We will also receive the 
difference between the State and Federal pay-roll for the 
month of July. I receive $18 per month from the Gov- 
ernment. The State pay is $1.25 per day, the State 
making up the difference. At least, this is the way we 
understand it. It is considerable of a puzzle. The U. S. 
paymaster paid out $29,172 to our regiment. 

Kenneth. 

LETTER XX 

The Regiment Beats the Record on the March. — 

Sterling Ranch, — Supply Train Doing 

Good Service. 

Sterling Ranch, Tex., Aug. 26, 1916. 
Dear Rob and Family: 

Just a few lines to let you know I am all right. The 
regiment has reached here in great shape. We averaged 
eighteen minutes to the mile all the way from McAUen, 
which beats all records set by other regiments. 

Sterling Ranch is a great place of 27,000 acres. They 
raise stock chiefly, both cattle and horses. A great deal 
of it is cultivated. It was ploughed with a Winchester 
rifle slung over the handles of the plough. Sterling 
Ranch was raided by Villa not very long ago. It cer- 
tainly looked good to us after fifteen miles of barren 
waste, with not a house to be seen. It lies all by itself in 
the middle of a howling wilderness. There is plenty of 



86 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



water here, but it is necessary to pump it from a depth of 
1,700 feet. The water is hot and the color of milk when 
it com.es to the surface. Our next stop is La Gloria, which 
is only a water-hole. 

We are being well taken care of and well fed. Our 
wagon train is rendering excellent service, in spite of 
terrible roads. Supplies are sent out to us from our base. 




The Shower-Bath at Sterling Ranch. 



We carry only about four days' food supplies for men 
and animals. There are about 1,200 men and 201 horses 
and mules. Supplies are transported by Truck Co. No. 
35, with Packard five-ton trucks. We get up at 4 A. M. 
and break camp and are on the way by 5.20 or 6.00 
o'clock. 

The next town that we will see is Edinburgh, the 
capital of Hidalgo Co. It is about three days' march 
from here. Kenneth. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 87 

LETTER XXI 
On Hike. 

Edinburgh, Tex., Sept. i, 191 6. 
Dear Mama: 

Arrived here today from SterHng Ranch, which we 
hit for the second time . Arrived at 10.45, marching a 
distance of eighteen miles. Am well, and making the 
hike in good shape. We will reach home tomorrow ; that 
is, Mc Allen; which will complete a total milage of ninety- 
eight miles. This is the first place at which we have hit a 
post-office since the first day out. 

Kenneth. 

LETTER XXII 

The Seventh as Marchers. — A Sportsman's Para- 
dise. — Itinerary of the Big Hike. — , 
Some Lemon ! 

McAllen, Tex., Sept. 3, 1916. 
Dear Mama, Pop, Marj. and Rob: 

We are back in camp again, at which we arrived at 
7.30 A. M. yesterday, after doing thirty miles in twenty- 
six hours, which time includes making one camp and 
sleeping. The regiment is in excellent physical condition. 
We left Edinburgh at 2.50 A. M., and arrived here at 
the above-mentioned hour, a distance of thirteen miles. 
It was a great march. We covered ninety-seven miles in 
ten days and sent only fifteen men back to camp, who 
were either sick or overcome by the heat. 

I have discovered that this country is a sportsman's 



88 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



paradise. The deer were thick all through the line of 
march. Quail called along the road the entire day. They 
would sit on the top of a mesquite tree preening them- 
selves within twenty-five feet of the road while the whole 
column marched by. They are larger than a bantam. 
We also saw a great many wild turkeys and wood pigeon. 
From McAllen, we marched to Mission, the last settle- 
ment we were to see until we got to Edinburgh, which is 
the county seat. From Mission we hiked to Alton, only 
a water-hole, and from there to Sterling Ranch. Our 
next point was La Gloria Ranch, which is only a water- 
hole. The barns and house were raided and burned bv 




On the March Between Lacuna Secca and Young's Ranch. 

Mexicans, and never have been rebuilt. From La Gloria 
we marched back to Sterling Ranch, and the next day 
headed for Laguna Secca. This was a terrible march, 
as we had to hike twelve miles through sand which was 
ankle deep. From Laguna Secca we went to Young's 
Ranch, which is a good camp, but with very poor water. 
This place was the scene of a lively fight a little while 
before the troops were sent down. The house walls are 
full of bullet-holes. Young himself shot and killed three 
Mexicans and wounded two others, and proudly showed 
us the place where he had '"planted" them after the fight. 
The raiders were finally driven ofif. From Young's we 
retraced our steps to Laguna Secca, camped for the night, 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



89 



and then went back to Sterling Ranch again. We left 
the next morning at five o'clock for Edinburgh, and the 
following day arrived at McAllen. 

As you undoubtedly know, three regiments have been 
ordered home, and we are not one of them. The 71st 
leaves tomorrow morning. There is a good deal of mys- 
tery about it all. No reasons have 
been given out. The order may be 
rescinded, and then again the troops 
may be going in anticipation of the 
threatened railroad strike. We may 
follow, and we may be here for three 
months yet. You see how much we 
know about it. 

Received Mrs. Reed's letter, 
which simply states that the house 
will be opened as usual ; also got Vo- 
tey's wedding invitation. 

If I am to hunt up X's fiance, I 
will have to get more particulars. I 
will simply have nothing but labor 
for my pains if I do not know his 
initials, rank, and the battery he is in. 
You see there are twelve batteries 
here in two regiments. There are 
four guns and 120 men tO' a battery, and six batteries to a 
regiment. So it would be like hunting the proverbial 
needle in a haystack looking for him. 

I bought a lemon at Edinburgh from a farmer, and 
watched him pick it, which weighed four and a half 
pounds, paying 20c for it. There were about twenty-five 




A 4^-LB. Lemon. 



90 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

more just like it on the tree. This is another good one 
for Rob to tell. Shall have to stop and get to work 
cleaning equipment. 

Kenneth. 

LETTER XXIII 

A ''Howling" Wilderness. — Coyotes. — Inspections. 

— Climate Now Beginning to Feel Fine. 

Mc Allen, Tex., Sept. 6, 191 6. 
Dear Mama: 

Received your cake and a fine letter from Pop dated 
at Boston. The cake was great, and arrived without a 
crumb being shaken oft'. We ate it all at one fell swoop, 
and it was voted the best one yet received in the squad. 

I have spent most of my birthdays away from home, 
but never one in such a place as this last one. We were 
on the road from Sterling Ranch to Edinburgh, and pass- 
ing through a howling wilderness. It was impossible to 
see through the undergrowth for more than ten feet. An 
added feature was a pack of coyotes, which howled on 
our flank until daybreak, and then suddenly stopped, and 
we heard no more of them. I shall never forget it. That 
was part of the day in which we made thirty miles in 
heavy marching order.* 

Yesterday we had field inspection, and this morning a 
complete inspection of clothing and equipment. Tomor- 
row comes quarters inspection. This is all being done by 
Regular Army officers from the Inspector-Generars 
Department. It is most thorough, and a man receives a 

* See Letter CLVII. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



91 



severe call-down if he has so much as a spot on any part 
of his clothes or arms. Have not had a minute since we 
returned from our hike until now. It has been clean, 
clean, and clean everything. 

You spoke of some pictures. I have not had time to 
have any taken; besides, they are pretty punk, so don't 
think I will bother. If Rob will drop in at Myers', in 
Summit, and ask to see Sergeant Edward Willis's pic- 




Preparing for Saturday's Inspection. 



tures, he will see a plenty. Am going to order prints 
from Willis's films when I get home, anyway. 

The climate here is beginning to get very fine, or 
else we are thoroughly acclimated. Have applied for a 
twenty-four-hour furlough to visit Corpus Christi, but 
do not yet know whether it will be granted. 

Received another letter from Marj. and one from 
Aunt A., telling me of their thirty-mile hike. Sounds 



92 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

kind of fishy, after having seen strong men flat on their 
backs after ten miles. 

Kenneth. 

LETTER XXIV 

Ordered to Harlingen. — $15 a Month Does Not Go 

Far. — Doctoring Mules. — Convinced of the 

Benefit of Military Training. — Very 

Comfortable in Camp. 

McAllen, Tex., Sept. 14, 1916. 
Dear Marj.: 

As you know, three New York regiments are home, 
and here we still are, with absolutely no intimation as to 
when we will leave. As near as we can tell, general 
opinion seems to favor the story of our withdrawal 
about Oct. 15th. 

My company has been ordered to Harlingen, Tex., 
with the Third U. S. Cavalry, for machine-gun practice. 
We leave Oct. ist, to stay there for a period of two 
weeks. This does not look as if the War Dept. is in a 
hurry to send us home, although the order may be can- 
celled at a moment's notice. 

Have tried to get some Mexican needle-work, but 
there is so much imitation stuff that I don't dare buy it. 
The Mexican women around here have a lot of stuff for 
sale, but it is not worth buying. 

I am going to Corpus Christi on a three-days' fur- 
lough vv^ith another fellow* on Saturday. It is a round 
trip of about 350 miles, and the fare is only $5. I am 
dead broke again, but we expect to be paid soon. $15 

* Corp. Billy Tailer. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 93 

does not go very far when it is stretched over five weeks' 
time. 

We are very busy getting ready for our target prac- 
tice at Harlingen, consequently are getting a rigorous 
driUing in machine-gun fire-control, range-finding, wig- 
wagging, etc. Most of my work is now with our animals. 
I am acting corporal in my squad, and am on the mule 
detail. The stable sergeant* and I have all the doctoring 
to do, and the general welfare of the animals to look 
after. Day after day we spend the whole day, excepting 
drill hours, on the picket-line, and I find a great deal of 
satisfaction in the work. I have learned to throw a 
lariat a little, and can rope and throw an animal. We 
have had considerable trouble with screw-worms. They 
work in a circle just around the top of the hoof, and if 
let alone the animal's hoof will drop off. We have four 
cases at present, and three of the animals we have to 
throw in order to treat them. 

The regiment is losing quite a few men, owing to a 
new ruling by the War Dept., to the effect that a man 
who, on his second enlistment, signed up for five years, 
and has served three of those five, can be furloughed to 
the reserve. Our company has three men going out on it, 
and I think a good many throughout the regiment will 
take the advantage offered. 

Our O. M. sergeant, Richardson, is the man who 
called 3^ou up. He went home on an expired enlistment, 
and I asked him to get in touch with Pop. 

I am thoroughly and absolutely convinced now that 
some form of universal military training ought to be 
enforced on every able-bodied youth in this country. 

* Sergt. Harry. 



94 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



If you could only see what it has done to the men of this 
regiment ! Think what six months' discipHne, enforced 
cleanliness, constant physical exercise of the proper kind, 
abstinence, instruction in personal hygiene, first aid, the 
use of tools, living in the open air, and the many other 
things that are the results of training of this kind would 
do for every boy between the ages of eighteen and twenty 
or twenty- four and twenty-five! Think what it would 





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rim ■* * »».■&« 


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Sergts. Jetter and Harry. 

mean if every man in this country learned that cardinal 
rule of the soldier: Do what you are ordered to do in the 
way you are ordered to do it ! And suppose they had a 
period of it every year for four or five years? 

I read with a great deal of interest the article in the 
Reviezv of Reviews which Pop sent. It is very good, and, 
so far as I know, is true. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



95 



If you have received the Seventh Regiment Gazette 
for August, you will have seen my picture on page 326. 

We are now as comfortable as can be, with cots, 
wooden floors in our tents and shower-baths. Am well ; 
in fact, never felt better. 

Kenneth. 



LETTER XXV 

Divisional Manceuvrks. — The Flooded Roads. — 
Health of Division Remarkable. 

McAllen, Tex., Sept. 17, 19 16. 
Dear Rob: 

I did not get my furlough to go to Corpus Christi. 
On Monday we begin a 
two-days' divisional ma- 
noeuvre, so our trip had to 
be postponed a week, ov/- 
ing to the fact that we 
would be unable to get 
back in time. 

Those manoeuvres are 
the most extensive yet 
planned. They will take 
place along the banks 
of the Rio Grande, 
which will make them 
very difficult. Our problem will be to drive back a sup- 
posed army which has managed to cross the river. Great 
care has been taken in the past to stage all operations 
away from the border, so we were very much surprised 




Marooned 
The Hidalgo Road After a Rain 



96 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

when announcement of the above was made. About 
10,000 troops will take part, and will operate through the 
towns of Hidalgo, Madeiro City, San Juan, etc. 

On page 312 of the Seventh Regiment Gazette is the 
picture of a truck stuck in the mud, loaded with a piano. 
This happened just opposite our picket line. There is a 
regular lake where the road ordinarily is. This is a good 
sample of the condition the roads get in when it rains. 
The men on the truck are all from Squadron A, and the 
man playing the piano is the son of Augustus Thomas, the 
playwright, who spoke at one of the Athenaeum meetings. 

Am well. The health of the whole division is remark- 
able. Beats all records for a military camp, I believe. 

Kenneth. 

LETTER XXVI 

Furlough at Corpus Christi. — The Seventh Praised 

BY Gen. Parker. — Ford Cars Not Suitable for 

THE Border Country. — *'The Rio Grande 

Rattler." 

McAllen, Tex., Sept. 2y, 19 16. 
Dear Mama: 

Let me know about Barnegat and what luck Rob had 
fishing. By the way, I wish Rob would take out the gun 
I use in trap-shooting, and give it a good cleaning. 

We had a fine little outing at Corpus Christi. The 
finest thing there was the bathing. The water is very 
warm, of course, and we were bothered somewhat by sea- 
nettles. We put up at a fine hotel, where the meals were 
as finely cooked and served as at any of the first-class New 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



97 



York hotels. We had some typical Southern cooking. 
We took a room with bath, which had a fine bed with an 
Ostermoor mattress and good springs, but we could not 
sleep. Our cots on the ground feel more comfortable. 
They had an Ai orchestra, which played nothing but the 
best of music, and two excellent soloists. You cannot 
imagine the rehef of getting away like that after three 




Kenneth Gow and Billy Tailer. 

months of discipline and doing everything in a prescribed 
way. If we are here for some time yet, as it looks at 
present, I will try and go there again. 

The country between here and Corpus Christi is all 
much the same, except that there is nothing but grass on 
the plains. The railroad runs for miles where there is 
nothing to be seen but an expanse of plain as flat as a 



98 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

table, without so much as a cactus plant against the sky- 
line. This part of Texas is very poor, and land sells 
for about $60 an acre. 

We are very busy now, mostly with manoeuvres. 
Saturday morning the whole division was reviewed by 
Gen. Parker of the Regular Army. About 15,000 men 
were together on a cleared field about six miles from 
camp. Every branch of the service was represented. It 




Seventh Regt. Encampment at Mission. 



was the greatest military spectacle I have ever witnessed. 
The Seventh was greatly honored by a note from Gen. 
Parker to Col. Fisk, which was read to the regiment, and 
in which this officer stated that he had never seen a regi- 
ment that marched better or that had made a better 
appearance than the Seventh in all his career. He 
included both militia and Regular Army. We had the 
honor position and led the review. But the regiment 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 99 

would appreciate the order to break camp and entrain for 
home a lot better than it does these praises. On Oct. 6th 
we go to Harlingen for machine-gun practice. 

Have read both editorials you sent. They are good, 
and the one regarding the Lewis gun I believe is true. 
All of the other regiments here have been equipped with 
it. They are allotting four guns to a regiment, which 
is not enough. The guns are carried on Ford cars, which 
are useless in this country. On all divisional and brigade 
manoeuvres we have about 80% of the machine-gun 
work to do, because with our mules there is no place where 
we cannot go, and the regiments that use autos for 
machine-gun carriers cannot leave the road, and when it 
rains they cannot leave their camps. 

The enclosed picture was taken at Mission while we 
were on our hike. The tent is known as a pup tent, and 
is what we use w^hile on the road. Each man carries a 
half, and two halves are buttoned together and then 
pitched. 

Geo. Hodenpyle is down here with the regiment, a 
member of Co. I. I ran into him while on the Hidalgo 
manoeuvres, and of course was very much surprised. We 
were both on the combat patrol. 

Since starting this letter we have received our orders 
to report at Harlingen. We leave tomorrow morning. 
Our mail will be forwarded. 

Under separate cover I am sending a copy of the 
Rio Grande Rattler for you to look over. It is written, 
edited and published by the men of the New York 
Division. 

Am well and have no news as to when we will return 



100 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

home. Border conditions seem to be rather unsettled 
again. The weather has been very hot. It is hard to 
realize that it is the first of October. We are very busy 
getting in shape to get away at 4 A. M. tomorrow. This 
letter is rather disjointed, as I have had to stop on nearly 
every page and go and do something. 

Kenneth. 

LETTER XXVII 

The Marcil to Harlingen.- — The Camp There. — 
Machine Gun School. — Wild Game Plentiful. 
— The Coyotes and W^ildcats. — A Horse 
AND Mule Stampede. — Some Harlingen 
History. — Undesirable Reptile and 
Insect "Citizens." — San Benito. 
— The Seventh's "Pull" Im- 
aginary. — Thoughts of 
Home. 

Harlingen, Tex., Oct. 4, 19 16. 
Dear Rob: 

We arrived here at noon, Saturday, Sept. 30. We 
were a little mixed as to the distance, Harlingen being 
forty-three miles, instead of thirty-eight, as we thought. 
We made twenty-seven miles the first day, five or six 
miles more than we thought we had made. The twenty- 
seven-mile march broke all records for the division. We 
did the balance the next day. It was some march. Men 
and animals came in in fine shape. Of course, it was 
only a company march, and a company can make better 
time than a regiment. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



101 



We have a fine camp here, the best we have had. 
We are situated about one hundred feet from the edge 
of a beautiful arroyo which is about two hundred feet 
deep and 500 yds. or 600 yds. wide, with a beautiful 
stream of clear water about twenty feet deep and thirty 
feet wide in the bottom. The machine gun range is 
right on the grounds with us. We fire across the arroyo 




Pack Mules on the March. 

into the bank on the other side, and also up the ravine. 
Every conceivable kind of a target is used — have not 
time to describe them. This is a regular army camp. 
The machine gun troop of the First Illinois Cavalry are 
here with us. They leave Saturday, and the machine 
gun troop of the Third U. S. Cavalry came to the school 
with us, so we will be entirely with regulars. All of the 
makes of machine guns are here. We will probably shoot 



102 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

all of them, but will receive instruction in nomenclature, 
etc., on our own gun only, and possibly the Lewis, four 
of which may be issued us. We would then have both 
guns. The Lewis guns we have at present in the army 
are not a success. Capt. Hatcher, our instructor-in-chief 
and the inventor of some of the heavy guns used in coast 
defence, says it is due tO' faulty construction. He 
believes that the Lewis is a good gun, and should be 
adopted and used with the gun we now have, the Benet- 
Mercier, or Hotchkiss, as it is sometimes called. The 
Benets are shooting rings around all the other guns here. 
This is not due to the fact that they are understood better 
either, because the ablest and most efficient machine gun 
experts of the regular army are here. Every machine 
gun now in use all over the world is the invention of an 
American. I suppose all this is very dull to you, so I 
will stop. It is a very absorbing study. 

VVe have game galore here; quail and pigeon very 
thick. I started a whole covey right behind our picket 
line the day before yesterday, and got two. Another 
man and myself have gone halves and bought a cheap 
shotgun. I just could not resist it, the game is so abun- 
dant. We go out without dogs, and consequently lose a 
great many birds. This country has too much cover for 
easy shooting, and very often when you hit a bird and he 
drops, you cannot find him. But it is grand sport. We 
get all the snipe and pigeon we want. We do not get 
much time to shoot, but we manage to make a good job 
of it when we do go. 

We are bothered a great deal in this camp with 
coyotes and wildcats. The wildcats have a peculiar howl. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 103 

which is very similar to a child crying. They are danger- 
ous. The coyotes completely surround the camp at night, 
and yelp and howl nearly all night through. We have 
heard them very close, but have not been able to see any. 
If one remains very quiet on our picket line for a long 
time, they will slowly creep quite near. Then, if suddenly 
a noise is made, away they go, yelping like the imps of 
hell that they are, only to repeat the performance when 
everything is quiet again. L am going on picket guard 
tonight, and am to try some experiments. We go on 
guard here with our automatics cocked, one cartridge 
thrown into the barrel and a full magazine. There are 
several other beasts and birds that howl, or growl, or 
whistle at night which I have not been able yet to find 
out the names of. 

Something stampeded our animals the other night 
about twelve o'clock. I never imagined anything like it. 
Our picket line is about two hundred feet from camp, 
and on considerably lower ground. A trail leads to it 
through a thick growth of chaparral. I had not been 
able to get to sleep that night, mostly on account of mos- 
c{uitoes, which are bad here. (I now have a mosquito 
bar. ) I suddenly heard a sound which brought me sitting 
up straight on my cot. It sounded like a machine gun 
agoing about ten miles off. Then it dawned on me what 
it was — hoofs beating the ground. A second later I 
saw the animals rounding the corner of the trail into the 
company street. They swept by at full gallop, just a 
black mass and a cloud of dust, with the picket line, pins 
and shears clattering behind them. I thought that surely 
thev would take every tent in the street with them; but 



104 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

they got through without hitting even a guy-rope, which 
was a miracle, as I do not see how it was possible. At 
the head of the street is situated the mess shack, making 
necessary a sharp right-angle turn. They negotiated that 
in great shape. After that there was only the whole 
State of Texas before them. We finally got them 
rounded up and a new picket line down. We think that 
some of the animals tripped on the trailing picket line and 
halter-shanks and were thrown, which eventually stopped 
them. We suppose that coyotes or a wildcat started 
them. It sure was exciting for a about fifteen minutes. 

Bandits have been active around San Benito, which 
is just about seven miles from this camp. They killed a 
Mexican rancher and a regular of the i6th Inf. the night 
before last. Posses are out hunting them. We are all 
very careful where we go alone. 

Enclosed are two birdseye views of Harlingen. On 
one I have placed an arrow^ at the top of the picture. It 
points to our camp — the white spots which show away 
outside the town. The tents which show distinctly are 
those of the 26th U. S. Inf. Right beside our camp, and 
to the left of it, you will find a railroad bridge. This 
bridges the arroyo of which I have written. A year ago 
this bridge was blown up by Villi stas and eight regulars 
killed. The Mexicans lost all of their force in a desperate 
fight in the ravine below. All but three were killed, these 
three being captured and turned over to Rangers to take 
to Brownsville. The Rangers killed two on the way 
there, and the third was sentenced to fifty years' impris- 
onment by a U. S. court. 

Our camp is about a mile and a half from the point 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 105 

where the picture was taken, so you will see what an 
excellent photograph it is. The photographs give an 
excellent idea of the typical Texas frontier town. 

I am glad you had a fine time at Barnegat. Walter's 
log came in the same mail. It is very amusing, but made 
me feel bad to read it — that is, the menus did, for you 
certainly lived on the fat of the land, or the water. Sep- 
tember is the month on the Jersey coast. 

We have excellent bathing here, in the stream I have 
told you about. We also have rattlesnakes galore, centi- 
pedes four to six inches long, and jiggers by the million, 
all very undesirable citizens. 

Oct. 6, 1916. 

I will get this letter completed some time. We have 
very little spare time. T must stop now as the captain has 
just ordered me to saddle up and accompany him and the 
first sergeant to San Benito.* 

Oct. 7, 1916. 

Had a fine ride to San Benito yesterday. It is quite 
a town, with cotton-gins, sugar and oil refineries, and 
seems to be the commercial centre of this part of Texas. 

Am very busy, as the stable sergeant has gone back to 
McAllen for a few days, and I have his place until he re- 
turns. You may congratulate me; I have my stripes. 
Was made a corporal last night. This also gives me the 
position of gunner on our machine gun crew, which con- 
sists of four men to a gun. 

Nothing new about our home-coming. I think the 
guard will be kept on the Border all winter. Troops 

* Capt. Kenneth Gardner, First Sergt. Kenneth Wilson, Sergt. Edward 
Willis and Corp. Kenneth Gow went on this ride. 



106 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



that are moved out are replaced immediately by others. 
All of the National Guard will see Border duty. We 
may be lucky in getting out, and we may get stuck. All 
of the ''pull" the Seventh was supposed to have had has 
got them nothing. People will probably stop talking 
about it after this. 

Am well; in fact, Avas never better. Have forgotten 

what physic tastes like — 
that is, almost — and have 
also forgotten that I ever 
had indigestion. 

Received a letter from 
the shop, in which they 
say that they still have my 
job waiting, and have put 
no one on. 

I would like to know 

how the National Dairy 

Show is progressing. I 

suppose Pop is putting in 

a good deal of time there. 

How is the Grafonola? Don't forget to oil it once 

in a while. The springs ought to have graphite put on 

them. The motor will have to be taken to the Columbia 

Co. to have this done. 

Can you send some fudge? Ask M. if she will make 
some, 

Kenneth. 



w< 


1 






1 




^fei-:^i 


•r 





LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



107 



LETTER XXVIII 

Good Sport at Harlingen. — Made Corporal and 

Gunner After Training and Competitive 

Test. — Jiggers. 

Harlingen, Tex., Oct. 13, 19 16. 
Dear Walter: 

Received the ''log," which I enjoyed ever so much. 
Am awfully glad you had such a fine trip. It made me 




Third Squad Gun Crew in Firing Pit. 

feel bad to read it, especially the menus. I quite agree 
with you, that September is the only month for the 
Jersey coast. 

We have a fine camp here, with the finest of quail 
and wild pigeon shooting you can imagine. I have 
bought a shotgun, which has been a fine investment. We 
have a dandy swimming-hole twenty feet deep. 



108 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

I have got my stripes — just received ni}^ corporal's 
warrant. I am also gunner of Gun No. 3, M. G. Co., 7th 
In f try., N. G. U. S. The gunners were selected after a 
competitive test by regular army officers. It extended 
over a period of ten days, and consisted of a test in 
nomenclature and the principle of the gun. Our gun 
has 142 parts, all of which must be named and their 
functions explained. The test also included speed in 
dismounting and assembling, reducing jams while on the 
firing line, accuracy and speed of fire, and emplacement 
and intrenching positions. A favorite trick that our 
instructors pulled on us was to have our guns brought to 
the firing line and then order the gunners to the rear out 
of sight. They would then replace good parts with 
defective ones that would not function properly. We 
would then be called back to diagnose the trouble and 
correct it. They also would fill the strips with defective 
ammunition, thereby causing jams, which we had to 
reduce. These last two things were the most difficult of 
the whole test, and the things which tripped most of the 
men. 

We have here rattlesnakes, coyotes and wildcats 
galore, also jiggers,* a bad dose of which I am just 
recovering from. 

Kenneth. 



An insect which burrows under the skin. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



109 



Never Better 
*'Bunkie".- 



LETTER XXIX 

IN Health. — A Word About 
-Made Permanent Gunner. — 
The Test Passed. 



Harlingen, Tex., Oct. 13, 1916. 
Dear Marj. and Family: 

Received your letter of the eighth in tonight's mail, 
and with it a copy of the Jersey Bulletin. The article 
about the Dairy Show is 
just what I wanted. Tell 
Pop to send news of it 
once in a while. Glad 
everyone is O. K. Don't 
worry about my thinness. 
Have never been better in 
my. life. 

You ask me who the fel- 
low is in one of the pic- 
tures with me. His name 
is W. H. Tailer,* of a 
prominent N. Y. family, 
and he is a fine fellow. He 
is a descendant of the first 
governor-general, or what- 
ever he was called, of the 
territory which now com- 
prises the New England 
States, whose name was the 



A 




J 


IL 


p 


HHJI 




«1 ' ^"^^ ■ 




J^ - 



Wm. H. Taili:r. 



* He afterwards joined the Lafayette Escadrille, and was killed while flying 
in France. 



110 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

same as his (William Tailer) appointed by the King of 
England. He is the man who accompanied me to Corpus 
Christi. 

I am most happy to be able to tell you that I am the 
permanent gunner of Gun No. 3 of the M. G. Co., 7th 
Inf., N. G. U. S. We have completed all but half a day 
of our period of instruction. The gunners were chosen 
in a competitive test in nomenclature, speed in dismount- 
ing and assembling the gun (w^hich, incidentally, has 142 
parts, all of which we must know by name and be able 
to explain their functions), and accuracy and speed of 
fire. This test covered a period of about ten days, and 
was judged mostly by the regular army instructors. We 
also received instruction in and fired the Lewis gun. To 
compare the Lewis gun and our gun is like comparing a 
Ford automobile with a Pierce-Arrow. Each has its 
proper uses. 

We have had a very hot week. It is hard to realize 
that it is the middle of October. I don't know when we 
will be ordered home. Everyone wishes it will come 
quickly. I am glad Boston won the World's Series. Will 
write when we get back to McAllen. 

Ken. 

LETTER XXX 

Back at McAllen Camp. — The Machine Gun Co. 
Gets an Ovation. — The Texas Rangers. 

McAllen, Tex., Oct. 19, 19 16. 
Dear Pop: 

We are back in camp at McAllen again, after a hard 
march of forty-one miles through rain and mud hub 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 111 

deep. Wc did it in a day and a half. At some places 
we had to haul our wagons up on the railroad track 
and drive along the ties. 

We had a fine time at the machine-gun range, and 
covered ourselves with glory. Capt. Hatcher, the 
instructor-in-chief, told us at the end of the school 
period that we were the most efficient company, either 
regular or militia, that had yet attended the school. We 
beat all records in time in taking down and assembling 
the gun; equalled the best time in the army in a speed 
test to ascertain how many shots per minute we could 
put into a given target; and to wind up we pumped 1,200 
rounds in four different sectors at invisible targets, the 
exact location of which we did not know, in two and a 
half minutes and averaged sixty-five per cent, of hits. 
My sector was at a distance of about 500 yds. and cov- 
ered both sides and the bottom of a deep arroyo. We 
are a very proud company, and the regiment is proud of 
us. The news preceded us on our way home, and as we 
turned into the regimental street on our way in the whole 
regiment was waiting, and they gave us a cheer that was 
heard back in McAllen. 

Enclosed are some more pictures, taken on our trip 
to Corpus Christi. The ones with crosses on the backs 
are pictures of the depot and hotel at Kingsville, a 
very beautiful place and the home of King's Ranch, one 
of the largest in Texas. This place is near Mr. Lasater's 
farms; that is, near as distances go in Texas. On the 
picture where the name of the hotel, Casa Ricardo, 
appears, ''yours truly" can be seen in the foreground. 
The group of men just in front of me are all Texas 



112 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

Rangers, of whom you have read so much. They all 
carry two Colts, long-barreled forty-fives, one on each hip, 
and sometimes one slung under the left armpit. The 
picture of the small railroad station is at Robstown, a 
junction point. I am leaning up against the fence near 
the palms in the foreground. 

Mama was asking about my glasses. I have not 
worn them since I came down here; they are too much 
of a nuisance. I don't miss them, and the lack of them 
did not interfere with my shooting. 

I have bought a small Navajo blanket, which I am 
sending along. The blanket, or mat, as I suppose it 
really is, is genuine. Am sending it for Aunt A. It is 
about the only thing I can get that I feel is real. If 
you want one, let me know. 

Will you send me another ten d. ? I simply cannot, 
it seems, make my pay last from one pay day until the 
next. My old trouble, you see. I will get $21 per 
month from now on. The Harlingen trip put me in a 
hole. 

Hope you are well, and that the Club banquet was 
a success. 

Kenneth. 

LETTER XXXI 
Souvenirs. — Personal Matters. 

McAllen, Tex., Oct. 19, 1916. 
Dear Mama and Marj.: 

Just received your letter and fudge, which were very 
welcome. Glad everyone is well. Your warning about 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 113 

the Navajo blanket came just too late, as I bought one 
today, as you will learn from my other letter. It was 
not made by Indians, of course, but is real wool never- 
theless. I could not get anything else. I am also going 
to send home my warrant. Take good care of it, as it 
is very precious. This is the document which author- 
izes my corporalship. 

The weather is improving, it now being only 80° at 
nine o'clock in the morning. 

I will try and get some needlework later. There are 
lots of leather things which appeal to me, but they all 
cost too much, and I simply cannot buy them and have 
money enough to carry me through the month for laun- 
dry, etc., and for what I may spend. For instance, 
before I leave here I intend to get a horsehair lariat, 
Mexican made. They cost about $10. 

The I St Field Artillery are leaving for New York 
tonight, to be replaced by the 3d Field Artillery, which 
is equipped with the new 4.7 howitzers. 

Kenneth. 

LETTER XXXII 

A Hike on the Ties. — Praise for the Company. — 
The Barnegat ''Log'' Appreciated. — Think- 
ing OF THE Opera. — Stable Sergeant. — 
Talks About 'T" with Apologies. 

McAllen, Tex., Oct. 21, 1916. 
Dear Walter: 

We are back in camp after a hard forty-one mile 
march in rain and through mud that was hub deep for 



114 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



miles. The road from Harlingen to McAllen runs along 
the railroad track, so we simply cut down the fence 
which all the railroads in the State build along their 
right of way, and drove our wagons and mules along the 
ties. The road was impassable in many places. 

The company made a great record at the Government 

school. Capt. Hatcher in- 
formed us at the end of 
our period of instruction 
that we were the most ef- 
ficient machine-gun com- 
pany of either regulars or 
militia that had yet at- 
tended the school. 

Have re-read the ''log" 
a couple of times, and en- 
joyed it more each time. 
''Junior" Willis* read it 
also, and appreciated it very 
much. He is one of the 
finest men I have ever met, 
and has become a warm 
friend of mine. He is to be 
a second lieutenant in the 
M. G. Co. Will get his com- 
mission in a day or two. 
What have you done about your opera subscription? 
Have not heard anything from Otto as to his plans. . . . 
After reading the prospectus, I wish that I was home. 

Didn't you and I have a bet on the election ? I think 
I bet $10 on Wilson. My company are all for Hughes. 

* Killed in action in France, Sept. 29, 1918. 




Lts. Wilson and Willis 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



115 



This is going to be a close election, and I think Wilson 
will win. 

I am going to talk about **!" some more. Since start- 
ing this letter I have got added one more stripe to the 
Lwo on my sleeve. I was appointed stable sergeant last 
night (Oct. 20). Next to the first sergeant, it is the 
biggest job an enlisted man " 
a machine-gun 



can 



m 



get 
company. I have the entire 
company at my disposal, 
and am in supreme com- 
mand of our animals, 
picket line, pack and 
leather equipment, such 
as saddles, etc. I am now 
a mounted man, with an 
animal of my own. Most 
of my work has been 
with our animals. In the 
absence of our former sta- 
ble sergeant, I have always 
had charge of the work, so 
I have gradually worked 
into it. Last week I 
branded all our mules and 
horses. Have learned to throw a lariat a little, and can 
rope and throw an animal and truss him up. Have even 
put a shoe on when occasion demanded. We have not had 
a veterinarian in two months. I have treated all our cases 
successfully, and they have been many and varied. The 
army does wonders, Walter. Don't think I am become 




The Stable Sergeant 
(K. Gow) 



116 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

conceited, because I am not. The way we get our educa- 
tion prevents that. I learned all these things only after a 
lot of hard knocks and hard work. Four months ago I 
could not have talked of myself in this fashion, but now 
it seems perfectly natural, although it probably sounds 
very much like blowing. I am going to rub it in some 
more: there is only one other man in the regiment who 
came here a private and is now a sergeant. We think a 
good deal of it, because it is always figured that a ser- 
geantcy in the Seventh is as good as a second lieutenancy 
in any other outfit. 

Kenneth. 

I.ETTER XXXIII 

A Comrade's Promotion. — Lots of Game. — New 
Riding Seat Being Learned. — The Com- 
pany Rated ''Excellent." 

McAllen, Tex., Oct. 27, 1916. '^ 
Dear Walter: -■ 

I have received a box of fudge from your people and 
a letter from you. Thank them for the fudge. It is what 
I want more than anything else. 

Eddy has a corporalship. His company has lost a 
great many men. E has lost more men than any other 
company. I am glad Ed got it. A corporal in a line 
company covers position No. 4 of the front rank in the 
squad, and has charge of a squad while in the tent.- 
There are eight men in a full squad. A corporal's princi- 
pal job is to keep his line dressed while marching at 
attention. 



LETTERS GF A SOLDIER 



117 



Hope you get to the bay for ducks. I only wish you 
were here with me for about two weeks. I would show 
you more game than you ever imagined lived. I am going 
on a week's furlough with the Captain after Nov. ist, on 
a deer hunt. 

We got our vote all right ; received my ballot to-day. 
It is the regular soldiers' and sailors' ballot. I mark it, 
fold it, place it in an envelope and then swear before my 
captain that I am a bona 
fide voter in New Jersey 
and have lived there for at 
least one year. I get two 
witnesses to sign. This 
affidavit is then sealed up 
with the ballot and placed 
in an envelope. In this en- 
velope is also enclosed a 
blank, which must be filled 
in and signed by the per- 
son who casts my ballot. 
I have seen Vandy W. 
several times. He is in K 
company, the finest in the regiment. 

I now weigh 150 lbs. I weighed 179 the day I was 
examined at the armory just before we came down. I 
am now attending daily the army equitation school, being 
mounted. I learned the old cavalry seat when we first 
came here, and have been riding it ever since, but have to 
learn all over again, because it has been all changed in 
the last two weeks. All cavalry, regular and militia, are 
now receiving instruction in the new style. They have 




118 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

gone back to posting* in the army, which is a radical 
change from the old long stirrup. 

Very glad to know that the European war will be 
over in a year ! Was getting worried. 

I am enclosing a copy of a communication from the 
Ordnance Department to the commanding general of the 
Sixth Div., U. S. A., relative to the work of the M. G. 
Co. of the Seventh Inftry. while at Harlingen. It speaks 
for itself. More could not be said. You will notice that 
the word '"excellent" is used in it. That is a word very 
rarely used in the criticism of the work of an individual, 
company or regiment by regular army inspectors. 

The weather is still hot, but the nights are wonder- 
fully cool. The orange, lemon and grape-fruit crops are 
just being picked. In about two months the strawberries 
will be ready. It seems strange that it is almost the first 
of November. 

Don't know when we will be home. Have stopped 
thinking about it. A lot of us are going to be here all 
winter. We are now figuring that our chances of getting 
home or going into Mexico are fifty-fifty. Wish they 
would do either one or the other. 

Kenneth. 

LETTER XXXIV 
Voting by Proxy. — Anxious to Cast Ballot. 

Mc Allen, Tex., Oct. 28, 19 16. 
Dear Pop: 

This is just a hurried note explaining my vote, which 
you will cast for me. We received our ballots yesterday, 

* Rising in the saddle. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 119 

which I have marked in the prescribed fashion. The 
ballot is sealed inside of a white envelope, with my affi- 
davit as to residence on the outside. Sealed with the 
ballot is my affidavit of residence in the State and my 
citizenship. You take the white envelope to the polls, 
and they open it, look at the affidavit and then deposit 
the ballot in the box. 

Read the law, a copy of which is enclosed in the 
manila envelope. Note particularly the marked para- 
graph. Form 2a you will have to fill out as per direc- 
tions in pamphlet (par. 228). 

If you should happen to be away, Rob can vote the 
ballot, as I have simply made the name R. M. G. I hope 
this is all clear. I am particularly anxious to get my 
vote in this year. It is for Wilson. 

I received the vSpringfield paper last night. Have not 
had a chance to read it yet. Am well, as I hope you all 
are. Will write again tomorrow. I am now a sergeant. 
Will tell you about it later. 

Give the copy of the voting law to Walter S. when 
you are through with it. 

Ken. 



120 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

LETTER XXXV 

Solicitous about Ballot. — Promoted to be Stable 
wSergeant. — Duties of the Position. — The Equi- 
tation School. — Views of the Interna- 
tional Situation. — Reduction of the 
Regiment. — The Fruit Harvest. 

McAllen, Tex., Oct. 29, 1916. 
Dear Mama and Family: 

I sent a very hurried letter along with my vote yester- 
day. I had hardly a minute to write it. I hope the 
instructions are clear. Everything is in the 4 pp. circu- 
lar I sent, so I don't think that there will be any question. 
Pop simply gives the white envelope with the seal 
unbroken to the election officer. He also fills in the affi- 
davit, swearing that he is the person authorized to cast 
my vote. 

I am now the stable sergeant. I received my appoint- 
ment last week. It is the biggest job, next to the first 
sergeant, in the company. I have the entire company at 
my disposal, and rank all the other sergeants, with the 
exception, of course, of the top sergeant. I am in com- 
mand of our picket line and the men when working there, 
have charge of the animals, harness, leather equipment, 
such as saddles, packs, etc., and am directly responsible 
to my commanding officer for the welfare of the animals 
and condition of ec[uipment. I have all the treatment of 
sick animals to direct. Also, I am now a mounted man, 
with an animal of my own. 

I think that I have told you that most of my work 
ever since coming here has been with our former stable 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



121 



sergeant and the animals. In the absence of the stable 
sergeant I always had charge of the work, so you see T 
have worked into my present position gradually. We 
have not had a veterinarian in two months. I have 
doctored all of our cases successfully, and they have 
been many and varied. Of all the non-com. places in 
the company, I would rather have got this than any 
other. Lord knows it is 
bad enough to have to stay 
here when you have work 
to do that interests you. 
You can imagine what it 
is when one cannot or 
does not find any satisfac- 
tion in his work. Have 
learned to throw the lariat 
a little, and can rope and 
throw an animal and truss 
him up. This is necessary 
every once in a while with 
a mule. 

I am attending daily the 
cavalry equitation school. 
All mounted men and cav- 
alry, both militia and National Guard, are receiving in- 
struction in a new style of riding, which is a radical 
change from the old style. I learned the old seat when we 
first came here, which I have been riding ever since. Now 
I have to learn all over again. 

Don't think I am getting conceited, although I have 
talked mostly about *1" in this letter. You can't get a 




Sergt. Gow Doctoring 
"Pendy's" Abscess 



122 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

swelled head in the army, the way you get your educa- 
tion. I have learned what I know only after a lot of 
work and hard knocks. 

Glad to hear that the Club banquet was a success. 
From the headline in the Springfield Republican, the 
whole show was a grand success. 

It looks as if we may be here all winter. Carranza 
seems to be slowly but surely losing his grip. I don't 
see how anything can be accomplished by a conference, at 
least no permanent settlement. There is only one way, 
and I think that that will come eventually — send the 
army in. 

Let me know when you get the package I sent, and 
my warrant. Does the Seventh Regiment Gazette come 
regularly ? My picture was in the last one. Don't know 
what I can do about my insurance, if we do not get home. 

Did I tell you that Geo. Hodenpyle is down here with 
the regiment? We now have 1,146 men in our regiment. 
We came down with about 1,300. Have lost the differ- 
ence by physical disability, discharges, expired enlist- 
ments, furloughs to the reserve, etc. Eddy's company 
has lost the most men. We have been very lucky. 

The orange, lemon, and grape-fruit crops are being 
picked now. Oranges directly off the tree taste entirely 
different from what we get in New York. You don't 
know what a real orange tastes like until you eat them 
from the tree. 

The Schalchas sent me a box of fudge right after 
Marj. sent hers. It was very fine. 

Enclosed is some Mexican money given to me the 
other day. It is worth 25c. 

Hoping you are all well, Kennetpi. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 123 

LETTER XXXVI 

The Company's Good Work at Harlingen. — The 
Regiment's Good Discipline Record. — The 
Seventh's Poster Stamp. — The Company 
Menu. — Shoeing the Mules. — Cap- 
turing Smugglers. 

McAllen, Tex., Nov. 3, 1916. 
Dear Mama, Pop and Family: 

Received Pop's letter two days ago. Many thanks 
for the M. O. ; it is most welcome. I have not had an 
opportunity to cash it yet, so have not spent any of it. 

I shall certainly try to get to Falfurrias. If I go, I 
think that I shall get the Captain to go with me. I don't 
suppose Mr. Lasater would object. I would be surer of 
getting away then, you see. 

Enclosed is a copy of a communication from the 
U. S. District Ordnance Dept. to the commanding gen- 
eral of the New York Division relative to the work of 
our company at Harlingen. It speaks for itself, and will 
prove to you that there is a reason for all my crowing. 
Let me call your attention to the fact that the word 
''excellent" is very rarely used in the regular army in the 
criticism of the work of any individual or unit. This 
same sort of criticism has characterized the reports on 
the work of the entire regiment in every test made by 
the regular army instructors. All of the regiments in 
the division had three weeks' target work on a range 
built at La Gloria, an isolated spot in the centre of a wil- 
derness. The targets all were disappearing and partially 
hidden : that is, the figure of a man would suddenly bob up 



124 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



out of a pit at various distances between 200 and 1,000 
yards, and the gunner would have to fire at it from all po- 
sitions and at all gaits from a slow walk to a fast run. 
Our regiment averaged 56% hits. The next nearest 
was the Sixty-ninth with 29%. It was the same thing 
over again in range-finding, etc. 

So you see the regi- 
ment is head and shoul- 
ders above any other 
in this division, and, we 
believe, any other on 
the Border. It has 
had practically no ar- 
rests for breaches of 
discipline or drunken- 
ness. To my own per- 
sonal knowledge, no 
man of our company 
has taken a drink since 
leaving New York, and 
that is what counts, 
discipline like that. As 
long as we are here 
we have to make the 
best of it, and it is 
gratifying to be a member of such an organization. 

I saw Dick today. He leaves for home on the 15th 
inst. His enlistment runs out Dec. 15, but he is going 
home on a thirty-day furlough, and will take out his 
discharge in New York. 

Lieut. McQuaid is our first lieutenant. He is home 




Lt. Harry, Capt. Gardner and 
Sergt. Gow 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 125 

on a thirty-day furlough to attend to his business. I am 
glad he called you up. 

What do you think of our poster stamp? We think 
it a very clever design. You would have to come down 
here, I think, to really appreciate it. 

Have you received my warrant and the package yet? 
Did Rob get my letter asking him to look after my shot- 
gun — the single-barrelled one, I mean. 

The weather is very beautiful. The days are hot, but 
the nights are cool. I am going to give you the company 
menu for Sunday, as I think you may be interested to 
know how we are faring. We had fresh vegetable soup, 
roast beef, as fine as you would want to eat, French fried 
potatoes, fresh corn and spinach, apple-pie, ice-cream, 
coffee and crackers and cheese. Our Sunday dinners are 
all like this. We get fresh meat three times a week, and 
all of our meals, although not so elaborate, are on a par 
with Sunday's. For breakfast we have good oatmeal or 
other cereal, fruit two or three times a week, and on 
alternate mornings boiled eggs, fried eggs, plain omelet, 
ham omelet, etc., and all we want of coffee and toast. 
We are running our own mess, and the beauty of it is 
that the mess assessment stopped two months ago. We 
take the money allowed for each man per day from the 
Government. The amount is governed by the price of 
beef; or, to make it more clear, a man is allowed one 
pound of beef per day or its equivalent in cash. I think 
that at present this is 31c. It does not seem like much, 
but you see how high we live on it. 

I am feeling fine. I met Capt. Bates yesterday and 



126 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

had a long talk with him. He is from Summit, and 
is a fine fellow. 

I have been very busy. Have just finished having 
all of my animals at the blacksmith's. We had a great 
deal of trouble; had to put all but two in the stocks. The 
shoeing is done by regular army blacksmiths of the 
quartermaster's corps. 

Co. A of the Seventh captured five Mexicans who 
tried to sneak across the Rio Grande at Madeiro City^ 
where they are patrolling, the night before last. They 
had a big load of goods they were trying to smuggle in. 
No shots were fired. Three men effected the capture. 
They observed a boat in midstream quietly floating down 
with the current, and followed it through the canebrake 
for about a mile. When the boat landed the patrol 
ordered hands up, and marched the men back to camp 
and the guardhouse, to be turned over to the Customs 
authorities. 

Kenneth. 

LETTER XXXVn 
An ''Order" From the Ordnance Department. 

McAllen, Tex., Nov. 3, 1916. 
Dear Walter: 

Enclosed is a copy of the order I spoke about in my 
previous letter. After you read it you may understand the 
reasons for some of my everlasting crowing. It speaks 
for itself. You can imagine how a militia organization 
has to toe the mark to get such a criticism from regular 
army officers. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 127 

ENCLOSURE 

Harlingen, Tex., 
Oct. 16, 1916. 
From District Ordnance Officer 
To Commanding General, New York Division. 
Subject: Militia Companies at Machine Gun School. 

1. You are informed that on this date the Machine Gun Company 
of the Seventh New York Infantry completed the two weeks' 
course in the nomenclature and operation of the gun with which 
they are armed. The application and attention to duty of this 
organization was excellent, and at the completion of the course 
they could be rated as excellent in the mechanical handling of the 
gun. The only criticisms of this organization that I can offer are — 
none. 

(Signed) E. S. Hughes, 
Captain, Ordnance Dept. 
1st Ind. 

Hdqrs., N. Y. Division, McAllen, Tex., Oct. 21st, 1916. 
To the Commanding Officer, 

7th N. Y. Inftry., F. E. B. 

Have not time to write much. I have been extremely 
busy this week getting the animals shod. Had a great 
deal of trouble, it being necessary to put all but two 
into the stocks. 

Ken. 

LETTER XXXVni 

Voting in Camp. — Going on Border Patrol. — Reaps 

Fruit of Former Work. — The Riding Class. — 

Moonlight Brilliance and Sandstorms. 

McAllen, Tex., Nov. 9, 19 16. 
Dear Mama: 

Received your letters last night, and was mighty 
glad to get them. I am going to get some drawn-work 
or a scarf or mantilla for you and Marj. on pay day. I 



128 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

have found three Mexican women who make them. I 
have seen them working, so know the things are genuine. 

I am glad my vote arrived O. K. We don't know yet 
who has been elected. I shall be terribly disappointed if 
Wilson does not win. We had a very hot election. Feel- 
ing ran very high, and sentiment seemed to be about 
evenly divided. The New York Division voted as a 
district, the voting being done in camp, election judges, 
etc., being elected first by each company. Polls closed at 
II A. M., and the day was declared a holiday. 

We leave Saturday for Madeiro City, on the Rio 
Grande, for eight days' patrol. Infantry and cavalry 
have been patrolling regularly a thirty-mile strip along 
the river. Some officer thinks there ought to be machine 
guns mounted along the border, so down we must go. It 
will mean a lot of hard work, for machine-gun trenches 
must be built and rifle-pits made. This implies that a 
first-line trench must be dug and communicating trenches 
run back to a second and third line set of trenches. 
Facines, gabions, etc., will also have to be constructed. 

I am very busy, as usual. I have just finished a 
complete descriptive list of all my animals for the files at 
the headquarters of the Southern Department. It seems 
strange at times to think that some work you have done at 
some time or another helps you in an entirely unexpected 
way. My reading of Jersey cow descriptions for Pop for 
six months or so has helped a lot in this work. I knew 
how to go about it. 

Will look for the fudge, and hope it gets here before 
we leave for Madero. 

The riding class is progressing at the cavalry school. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 129 

They now have us riding kneeHng on our horses bare- 
back, with our arms folded across our chests. The horses 
are started off at a walk, and then trotted. We have to 
dismount and mount while the horse is at a walk, a trot 
and a canter. All this is done bareback. We soon will 
get ditch and fence jumping, both in the saddle and 




Stable Sergt. K. Gow 

bareback. It is great stuff, but not very pleasant if you 
should happen to fall. 

Dick goes home next week. I spent all day Sunday 
with him. Had him at our mess. We expect to be here 
all winter. Every indication points that way. 

You wrote of the moonlight nights. Will you believe 



130 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

me when I tell you that we can read a letter or write one 
by the moonlight, when the moon is full. I never have 
seen such bright nights. 

We have just gone through a three-days' sandstorm. 
The wind blew steadily, and everything we have is just 
covered with fine dust. Nothing keeps it out. 

I notice by the Summit paper that the fall activi- 
ties in the town are proceeding as usual. It seems like 
five years since I left. Will have to stop and get ready 
for the riding class. 

Nov. loth. 

Marj.'s fudge came in last night's mail. As usual, it 
is very fine, and is the best candy we get in our tent. We 
leave for Madeiro tomorrow. Will Rob look after my 
gun? Said goodby to Dick yesterday. 
With love, 

Ken. 

LETTER XXXIX 
Ordered Home. — A Cold Spell, But a Happy Camp. 

McAllen; Tex., Nov. 17, 19 16. 
Dear Mama, Pop, Marjorie and Rob: 

As you know from my telegram, we are coming home. 
This is certainly a happy camp. We will probably be out 
of here in ten days. We will start packing tomorrow, and 
as soon as the cars get here. I want the money to enable 
me to get some things to bring home, and also to have 
some on the trip. 

We have just had an exceptionally cold spell. The 
thermometer went down to 34 deg., which is exceptional 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 131 

here. We were very uncomfortable. We boarded the 
tent in, and all bought mattresses and some of us heavier 
clothes, all of which cost money, which is practically 
thrown away. 

I am crazy to see you all, and will advise as to further 
movements. I may not come home with the regiment, as 
I probably will be sent in charge of our equipment on the 
quartermaster's train. It will probably arrive in New 
York about the same time as the regiment. We will 
probably be in service for about two weeks after we get 
to New York, in order to check up and be mustered out. 

Kenneth. 

LETTER XL 

Ready to Move. — Looking Forward to the March 
Up Fifth Avenue. 

McAllen, Tex., Nov. 21, 19 16. 
Dear Mama: 

The regiment entrains tomorrow for New York. We 
expect to arrive Monday morning, if we get off as per 
schedule. Everything is packed, and there is not a tent 
standing. I am to sleep on the picket line tonight with 
my animals. My one regret about leaving is to leave the 
animals. 

I hope Pop, Rob and Walter will make it a point to 
view the regiment when it marches up Fifth Avenue. It 
will be worth the trouble. The papers will probably 
keep you posted. I will wire. We go home by the way 
of New Orleans and then over the Queen & Crescent 
route through Mobile, Chattanooga, Jackson, W. Vir- 



132 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



ginia and Washington, a fine route. I think we will be 
dismissed as soon as we reach the armory. Have a 
regular meal that night. 

With love, 

Kenneth. 




The Border Service Medal. 



Training Period 

Camp Wadsworth 




27th Division Insignia 



July 16, 1917, to April 7, 191 8 



Order Sending the Seventh to 
Camp Wadsworth 

Headquarters 7th New York Infantry. 

j> ■ . 1 r^ J >T .,r ^^w York City, Sept. 9, 1917 

Regimental Order No. 75 : . -^^-i/. 

1. The usual morning assembly calls on Sept. 11 will be chaneed 
as follows: First call, 9.50 A. M. ; assembly, 10.00 / M ^ 

2. At this assembly men will fall in without arms or equipment. 

3. In pursuance of orders from superior authority, the regiment 
Unl Ct?!!? Divisional Training Camp Spartanburg SouthTarS- 
lina, on Tuesday, Sept. 11th; service uniform, including cotton coats 

1.40 r"]^"''"^ ^' ^^' ^' ^''""^- ^'''' ^^"' 1-^0 P- M.; assemWv! 

. i^J^A^ ^'"^ °^ "'^'■^^ "^'^^ ^^ P^^k Avenue to Fifty-seventh St 
to Fifth Avenue, to Twenty-third St. and West to the ferry Com- 
manding officers will see that the field lockers and company rooms 
are searched immediately preceding the departure of the regiment 
lo ascertain that no public property which should be taken has 
ueen leit benina. 

5. All locker keys will be left in the locks. 

^'a J^t ^^^''^- r" ^^ relieved at 10.00 A. M., Sept. 11th, by a 
ffl'^K -u-^ furnished by the Depot Battalion, and the custody of 
the building will be turned over to that battalion at that hour 

By order of Colonel Fisk. 

(Signed) Douglas C. Despard, 
(Official.) . ^^P^^^"' Adjutant. 



135 



136 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

LETTER XLI 

En Route to Spartanburg, S. C. — Men Well Taken 

Care of. 

On Train, Sept. 12, 19 17. 
Dear Mother: 

We have jUvSt left Washington after the slowest trip 
imaginable. Left Jersey City at 5 P. M. and arrived in 
Washington at 10.05 A. M. Left Washington at i P. M., 
about fourteen hours behind schedule. 

We are very comfortable, having Pullmans. I am 
in a stateroom with two other men. We each have a 
berth to ourselves, and the room also serves me as an 
office. 

Washington looked very beautiful as we passed 
through. Men were not allowed off the cars. The Red 
Cross have established a refreshment station in the Wash- 
ington railroad yards for the benefit of passing troops. 
They took our mail and served coffee and buns. These 
women told us that troops are constantly passing night 
and day. 

We received a great sendoff from New York. We 
had plenty of good things to eat, as the men's folks came 
to see them off, and nearly all left boxes. I had a cold 
roast chicken for supper. There is more candy and cake 
on the train than we possibly can eat and remain well. 
You might save one or two of the best accounts of our 
departure. 

I am glad I didn't let you come to the depot, because 
the crowd was very great, and the Jersey City police had 
evidently made no arrangements to handle it. Walter 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 137 

has probably told you all about it. Let me know how 
the regiment looked [on the march in N. Y. City]. 

There are twenty troop trains ahead of us, so I sup- 
pose that explains some of the delay. 

Will write again at the first opportunity. 

Ken. 

LETTER XLII 
En Route to Camp Wadsworth. 

Salisbury, N. C, Sept. 13, 1917. 
Dear Mother: 

We are leaving Spencer, from which I sent you a 
card. This country is beautiful, and the weather has been 
delightful. We are due in Spartanburg tonight, and the 
railroad officials will probably dump us off the train as 
soon as we get there, because the Government will not 
pay for the occupation of cars after their arrival at desti- 
nation. So it looks as if we will have to make camp at 
night. Pleasant thought! It is the railroad's fault, of 
course, for not running us through on schedule, but that 
evidently makes no difference. 

Sent a card to Rob. LCave to depend on whoever we 
can find to send our mail, as we cannot do it ourselves. 
Have even run out of stamps and cannot buy more. 

The scenery is very fine, but gets rather monotonous, 
as it is all the same — gently rolling country, heavily 
wooded and very sparsely settled. Most of the people 
are very miserable-looking, and seem to be as poor as 
church mice. They live for the most part in log cabins 
chinked with clav, and have a little corn and tobacco 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 139 

planted. There are niggers and niggers, and then more 
niggers. There are very few towns of any size at all, 
and no big cities so far. The hills are covered mostly 
with pine and oak. The air is wonderful. 

Things are running very smoothly aboard train. All 
of our movements are well regulated. The men all seem 
to have survived the junk their loving folks loaded them 
down with at Jersey City. Most of it has disappeared, 
for which I thank Heaven. 

The train is standing in the Salisbury depot, where I 
have bought an apple-pie. Everyone seems to know the 
Seventh by reputation, and charge us accordingly. It is 
a crime. At a small town in Virginia named Culpeper, 
where we stopped for water, a group of women and girls 
came running down the main street and asked us who we 
were. When they learned that we were the Seventh New 
York they said: ''Oh! yes, we know all about you. We 
have been waiting to see 5^ou go through for a week.'* 
They immediately despatched two of their number to 
collect the rest of the clan, but we pulled out before they 
returned. 

This has been the slowest trip you could ever imag- 
ine. There are twenty-two troop trains, not twenty, as 
I wrote you yesterday, ahead of us, so the road is just 
about absolutely crippled. 

Have command of the company on the train.* 

Ken. 



* He was First Sergeant. 



140 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

LETTER XLIII 

The First Day in Camp. — Clearing Ground and 
Grubbing Stumps. 

Camp Wadsworth, Sept. 14, 1917. 
Dear Mother and Family: 

Flere we are at the end of the first day. The company 
is dead tired, of course, most of them writing. We 
arrived at 7.45 last night, and the colonel received per- 
mission for the battalion to sleep on the train, so we were 
backed on to a siding. Reveille sounded at 5 A. M., 
and we detrained at 6.30, arriving in camp about 8 A. M. 
The country and the camp location are perfect. The 
camp is very incomplete, and its size is inconceivable. 
Total lack of organization; that, of course, will come 
later. Half of our camp site is situated on land that 
was heavily wooded, and the other half on what was a 
cotton-field, the crop never having been picked. We 
drew the woods. The trees had been cut down, but the 
stumps were left, consequently the company had to grub. 
It was exceedingly hard work, most of the timber being 
oak. The ground is very rough. We seem to be situ- 
ated on a plateau. The camp runs up and down hills, a 
level piece of ground being a rarity. Mess-shacks only 
are built, with, of course, latrines and shower-baths. 
The mess-shacks are very fine, with electric lights. We 
will have lights in the tents in a few days. 

There are not many troops here yet, mostly odds and 
ends, such as signal corps, engineers, field batteries, cjuar- 
termaster corps, ammunition trains, military police, engi- 
neer trains, various hospital and ambulance companies, 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



141 



etc. The soil is either sand or a very heavy clay. It 
makes bad holding for tent-stakes. The amount of work 
to be done fairly staggers one. I am having the unique 
experience of sitting on a stump and bossing the gang, 
waxing very proficient at the same. 

The country between Charlotte and Spartanburg is 
more prosperous. We passed through many large mill 




Erecting Tents. Sergt. Gow in Foreground, Centre. 

towns, Spartanburg, it seems, being the commercial 
centre of this whole district. 

We were told that we could have our animals as soon 
as we were ready for them. The men pitched into the 
work with a will. 

Let me know how the regiment looked in New York. 
Have had the most tedious trip ever. The last section to 
leave Jersey City was the first to arrive at Spartanburg. 



With love, 



Kenneth. 



142 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

LETTER XLIV 

Spartanburg, its People and the Surrounding 
Country. 

Camp Wads worth, Sept. i6, 19 17. 
Dear Marj.: 

This being Sunday, we are not doing very much. We 
are gradually getting into shape, although there still 
remains a lot to be done. I have a board floor all ready 
for my tent, and yesterday I went to Spartanburg and 
ordered a table and chair. I still have quite a few things 
to get, such as a pail, basin, lumber for the sides of my 
tent, etc. It costs about $10 to floor an A tent alone. 
We thought lumber would be plentiful and cheap here, 
but we guessed wrong. 

Spartanburg is a typical Southern city. It seems very 
old-fashioned to us. The merchants are very obliging, 
and evidently are making a sincere effort to give the 
troops a square deal. The people are. sociable, and very 
much inclined to take things easy. If you try to hurry 
them, you are worse off than ever. There is a very good 
hotel here, the Cleveland. The rates are reasonable, a 
room and bath being $2 a day. Lt. Harry says that he 
got an excellent meal there for $1.25, which is cheap. 

The more I see of the country the better I like it. I 
am writing this in the mess-shack, and from where I sit 
I can look across the plateau and see the Blue Ridge 
mountains about ten miles away. The country in 
between is rolling. It is a paradise compared with south- 
ern Texas, and you will like it when you come down. 
The weather is very cool, but we are as comfortable as 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 143 

can be, having plenty of blankets and each man having a 
sweater besides, which we are wearing constantly, which 
will give you an idea of what the temperature is. 

Have no word about our animals. I am impatiently 
waiting for my horse, for when I get him I am going to 
make a bee-line for those mountains. 

I am glad you came in and saw us go away, and I am 
also glad that Mr. Geistweit's feelings were not hurt. I 
am going to write him in a day or so and tell him how 
sorry I am. 

The wind has blown great guns out of the northeast 
ever since we arrived. The dust is bad. The roads the 
contractors have built are a joke; in fact, it is an insult to 
a good road to call them such. The present road to town 
is seven miles long. Gen. O'Ryan is having a military 
road built which shortens the route to Spartanburg to 
three miles. 

If an enterprising merchant would open a store here, 
he would make his fortune. The storekeepers in the 
town have not the slightest idea of what they ought to 
carry. At the furniture store where I bought my table 
and chair I also tried to get two canvas folding-chairs 
for Lt. Wilson. The owner said that he had ordered a 
big shipment of them, and that he expected that they 
would arrive at some indeterminate date in the future. I 
asked him how many he had ordered, and he informed 
me that his order called for a hundred. Just imagine! 
And he thought that he was plunging very deeply. He 
could sell a thousand of them right now. I told him to 
order five thousand, and went so far as to say that the 
M. G. Co. would guarantee the sale, if he would put in 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 145 

an adequate supply of them and of other things which we 
would suggest. We made no headway at all, succeeding 
only in convincing him that we were reckless fools. 
With love, 

Ken. 

LETTER XLV 

The Seventh to be a "Base" for the 107TH. — Negro 

Singing. — Indigestion and Sore Throat 

Epidemic. 

Spartanburg, S. C, Sept. 18, 191 7. 
Dear Pop: 

W^ork here is progressing slowly. We have not 
started our training programme yet, and have only three 
hours' drill daily. The rest of the time is spent in camp 
preparations. Still no word of our animals. 

It was officially announced by the colonel this after- 
noon that we will be the 107th U. S. Infantry. This 
pleased everyone, of course, on account of the "7." We 
will be one of the base regiments, therefore do not lose 
our identity. Around us will be built, under the new 
tables of organization, an infantry regiment of 3,750 
men. The reorganization will be effected as soon as 
practicable. 

The nights are very cold. I had to buy a mattress 
and also I bought a pillow, the one M. made being too 
small after all. I will use the latter when we go on hike, 
as it will be just the thing for that. Today was extremely 
warm, and it is cold again tonight. 

I heard some darkies singing the other night, the 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 147 

first time I have ever heard this far-famed Southern 
darky singing. It is the weirdest thing I ever heard. 
Their melodies are very primitive, and seem to revert to 
what might have been African dirges. We asked them 
to sing *'My Old Kentucky Home/' ''Suwanee River," 
''Old Black Joe," or some other darky song, and (will 
you believe me?), they never heard of any of them. 
They chant when they work. Foremen, I believe, encour- 
age them in this, as they then work better. They are the 
slowest workers I ever saw. 

We cannot get fresh vegetables or milk here. Milk is 
very scarce, and what you do get is like water. There 
are very few milch cattle here. We see hardly any vege- 
tables in the stores, but plenty of fruit. Nearly every- 
one's digestion is upset. I suppose we are all undergoing 
the process of acclimation. I wish you would send me a 
bottle of alkaline throat tablets and a nose syringe. I 
have had a sore throat ever since arrival. This terrible 
dust irritates the throat badly. Most of the men are 
bothered the same way. 

Hope you are all well. 

Kenneth. 

LETTER XLVI 
Dress Regulations. — Hot Days and Cold Nights. 

Spartanburg, S. C, Sept. 19, 19 17. 
Dear Mamma: 

Received your letter, and certainly was glad to hear 
from you. Also wanted to know particularly about Rob. 
You might tell Rob that a man has the privilege of dress- 



148 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

ing almost any way he pleases while inside his own camp 
limits (that means not only his own street, but the whole 
camp), except when on and in regular military forma- 
tions. A good company commander considers first his 
men's personal comfort before he quibbles over picayune 
things. 

I find it a good deal different being first sergeant 
than a private or a line sergeant. In the first place, I am 
in a tent alone, so have no one to help out on expenses. 
That makes it very expensive. I have my tent floored, 
but will have to wait until pay day to finish it. 

Regarding our future status, I don't know anything 
more. Feel a little better today, physically. Yesterday 
and today were very hot, but not a bit muggy. The 
nights are cold, and the cold goes right into the marrow 
of our bones. We put on our cots everything we own, 
including tent-pins and tent-straps. 

The men in the company are making a reptile collec- 
tion. They have some very fine specimens, including two 
chameleons, and have built a cage. 

Write as often as you can. 

With love, 

Kenneth. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 149 

LETTER XLVII 

The 107TH Infantry Formed. — Training to Be a 

Corker. — A Fine Country to Learn Machine 

Gun Tactics. 

Camp Wadsworth, Spartanburg, S. C, 
Sept. 20, 191 7. 
Dear Walter : 

We have some definite dope regarding our future 
status at last. It came out in the form of a verbal regi- 
mental order. Written orders and memos are being 
dispensed with as much as possible, owing to the problem 
of transporting them, as the Army Regulations specify 
that all correspondence must be retained and carried as 
part of the company records. We will be the 107th U. S. 
Infantry, and will be one of the four base regiments 
around which will be built, under the new tables of organi- 
zation, an infantry regiment of 3,700 men. The ''7th," of 
course, pleased the whole outfit, as did the fact that we 
were chosen as one of the bases. The ist N. Y. Inftry. 
will be amalgamated with the 7th. No officers, sergeant- 
majors, regimental quartermaster sergeants or first ser- 
geants will be transferred to us. All other non-commis- 
sioned officers come over with the entire enlisted person- 
nel of the 1st. This means that there will be too many 
non-coms, so a competitive examination will be held 
between our non-coms and the ones we gain by the trans- 
fer. The winners will get the warrants. The reorgani- 
zation will be effected as soon as practicable. The ist 
Inftry. is an up-State regiment, and is a very good 
outfit. 



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LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 151 

We have not started on our training program yet. It 
is going to be a corker when it does start. It is now a 
conviction of the 7th N. Y. Inftry. that a pine stump 
is the toughest and hardiest plant that grows. They are 
slowly disappearing though, thank Heaven. The line 
companies are not doing any more than is necessary, 
because we will have to move when the reorganization 
comes. Think we will have our animals in about two 
weeks. Rations came in for them today. 

Expect to go into Spartanburg tomorrow night. 
Roger has invited Helmuth and I to dinner at the Cleve- 
land. That is where you will stay when you come down; 
and, believe me, I am going to be glad to see you. This is 
a wonderful country, Walter, and we are going to get 
over as much of it as possible. One can get an automobile 
for $15 per day, which is certainly cheap. The Govt, 
has ruined acres of cotton in the making of this camp. 
We had the guns out this morning, and this is the most 
wonderful country for machine-gun tactics I have ever 
seen. You can stand on an elevation and get ranges for 
an hour. Have used your compass a lot. It is about the 
truest one in the company. 

Kenneth. 

LETTER XLVIII 

Throat Trouble Bad. — ''Die Meistersinger" in 

Camp. — Most Men 'Tlat Broke." 

Spartanburg, S. C, Sept. 22, 191 7. 
Dear Marj.: 

Your letter and fudge came today. It is great, the 
best thing I have tasted yet since coming to camp. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 153 

The cotton is not ready to pick yet. That comes 
about the middle of October. It is all in pod now. 

The dust here is terrible. My throat is in a fearful 
condition. The whole camp is affected. The surgeons 
paint with iodine or nitrate of silver, and that is extremely 
unpleasant. You cannot smoke, and food tastes like rub- 
ber, so I am waiting for the alkaline tablets. A great 
many of the men can hardly talk. 

It is a beautiful, still night, and the men are singing 
all over the camp. It makes one feel very melancholy. 
The band is in the next street to us, and they are practis- 
ing very softly. They have just finished ^Walter's prize 
song" from ''Die Meistersinger," which is most beauti- 
ful, and are now playing, as I write, ''Carry me Back to 
Ole Virginny." A bugle can be heard for miles tonight. 
The weather has warmed up. Today was actually hot. 

I am sending you a book of pictures. They are of 
the mountains and the country around Asheville, just a 
few miles from us. That is the country you will see 
v/hen you come down. You will not be able to resist it. 

Have gone fiat broke, as usual, and have had to bor- 
row some money; but I am in good company, as most of 
the men are in the same state. 

Jun has announced his engagement. She is a fine 
girl. He told me going down on the train. He has it 
bad; would sit with me, and still does for that matter, 
and talk about her. I was the only one outside of his 
family that knew it until he announced it to the Summit 
men last night. 

Love to all. 

Ken. 



154 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

LETTER XLIX 

Teaching One's '^Betters." — *'Gen. O'Ryan Out to 

Make Soldiers." — General Orders No. i. 

M. G. Company, 7th N. Y. Inftry. 
Sept. 22, 1917. 
Dear Mama and Marj.: 

Received your postal today, and will look for the 
package. The fudge was great. Send some more when- 
ever you feel like making it. Received a letter from Rob 
and have answered it, also a letter from Walter. 

We are busy getting ready for the reorganization. 
The weather is extremely raw and cold. We are all 
wearing our sweaters, coats and overcoats. I put on a 
pair of Eilly's socks this morning and they feel great. I 
met Roy Underwood in Spartanburg. 

We have thirty U. S. Reserve officers detailed to the 
regiment for their instruction. We have two in our 
company. I had one of them to instruct in administra- 
tion and first sergeant's paper work all yesterday after- 
noon. I get $51 a month and they get $141. I have 
to tell them all I know. It gets your goat, no matter 
how good a soldier you try to be. It would not be so 
bad, but they display all the pettiness and arrogance 
which goes with ignorance. The one that I had started 
in by patronizing me, but I knew so much more than he 
did that his manner soon changed and he was ready to 
listen to what I had to say. Don't think me conceited; I 
am just stating facts. 

There seems to be a good deal of peace agitation. 
Now that we are in it, I imagine that I will be disap- 
pointed if we don't go through with it. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 155 

I went to church this morning. Two adders were 
killed in two of our tents last night. They came in out 
of the cold rain to get warm. What did you think of 
'The Land of the Sky" pictures? 

The discipline to which we are being subjected is 
iron-bound and relentless. Gen. O'Ryan is out to make 
soldiers. I am enclosing a copy of General Order No. i. 
It speaks for itself. That examination is a corker, par- 
ticularly for sergeants. All of the sergeants in our com- 
pany passed it without special preparation, something 
very few U. S. Reserve officers can do. The manual of 
interior guard duty, included in the examination, is a 
very complex affair, and fills about sixty pages in the 
drill regulations. We are required to know it from start 
to finish. We also must know the articles of war. 

Ken. 

ENCLOSURE. 
General Orders Headquarters, Camp Wadsworth, 

No. 1. Spartanburg, S. C. 

September 18, 1917. 

Based on information from our Expeditionary Forces, which 
shows the necessity for a discipline far stricter than anything in 
our previous history and for a proportionate outward manifesta- 
tion of same, the following is published for compliance by this 
command : 

1. With the exceptions below indicated, no enlisted men will 
be permitted to leave the camp reservation until they have quali- 
fied in the following- 

(a) Shown by a test demonstration, held under a commissioned 
officer, that they can execute the prescribed hand salute ; 
that they can assume the proper position when reporting 
to or when being spoken to by an officer; that they can 
properly salute when they meet an officer; that they can 
stand at attention when the circumstances require such 
action; and in general that they can in letter and spirit 
comply with Par. 4 A. R. All the above-mentioned out- 
ward manifestations of discipline will be executed with 



156 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

the snap and precision that should characterize every- 
thing military. 

(b) Shown by a test demonstration, under a commissioned 
officer, that they can deliver a message in the customary 
military language and manner, 

(c) Shov^n by a test' demonstration, under a commissioned 
officer, that they know how to properly wear each article 
of uniform issued to them, and in this they will be 
instructed to wear head-gear squarely on the head. 

(d) Passed a satisfactory examination by a commissioned offi- 
cer in the following portions of camp regulations: 

L Administration, Pars, (a) 1 to 5 incl. 
VL Credit Sales. 
XXI. Traffic Regulations, Pars, (a) 1 to 9 incl. (b). 
XXII. Sanitary Regulations, Pars, e, h, i, and 1. 
XXIIL Tents, etc., all. 
XXIV. Miscellaneous Regulations, Pars, a, b, c, d, and e. 

(e) Passed a satisfactory examination, by a commissioned 
officer, on the duties of guards and sentinels and the hon- 
ors and courtesies rendered by them under all circum- 
stances and execution of same. Each non-commissioned 
officer, subject to guard duty, will be required to pass a 
like examination in regard to the duties of the non-com- 
missioned officers of the guard. 

2. Except as belov^^ indicated, all of the enlisted men now 
present in this command will be restricted to camp reservation 
limits until Reveille on September 30th. All of the enlisted men 
of each unit arriving after the date hereof will be likewise 
restricted for eight days after arrival. At the end of the periods 
indicated, tests enumerated in Par. 1 may begin. 

3. When an enlisted man has qualified, as required, he will 
be given a qualification card, in the following form: 

Camp Wadsworth, 

1917. 

Name 

Organization 

has qualified as required by G. O, 1, Headquarters, Camp 

Wadsworth, S. C, Sept. 18th, 1917. 

APPROVED 

(Signed) 

(Rank) 

Commanding Unit. 

(Sig) 

(Rank) 

Commanding Regt. or Unit. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 157 

Such cards may be printed and paid for out of appropriate 
funds by regiments, companies or corresponding units. The size 
of the card will be 3x4 inches. 

He will carry this card whenever he leaves camp, and will 
show it whenever required to do so by an officer, a member of 
the Military Police on duty, or by any member of this com- 
mand authorized to demand same. Officers will be detailed 
by the Division Commander to observe the conduct of 
enlisted men in camp, in town and on the roads. They will be 
directed to question enlisted men along the lines set forth in 
Par. 1, and in case any men are found deficient, their cards will 
be immediately taken up by such officers, and their company or 
equivalent commander will be held responsible for the deficiency. 
All commissioned officers and Military Police on duty will take 
up and forward to Division Headquarters the card of any man 
who is not in proper uniform, who is not wearing his uniform 
properly, who is untidy in appearance, who is seen to fail in the 
requirements for saluting, or whose conduct or appearance is 
unmilitary. Accompanying the card will be sent a brief memo- 
randum as to the reason for which it had been taken up. Any 
man whose card has been taken up will be restricted to camp for 
at least ten days and then re-examined. Additional punishment 
will be avv^arded if merited by the offense. 

4. The qualification card is not to be considered as a pass, 
and passes will still be required as prescribed by Regulations. 

5. Enlisted men who have not qualified may leave the camp 
limits under the followmg conditions: 

(a.) When on military duty requiring such action, 
(b) When sent beyond camp limits by their Commanding 
Officers on errands affecting the welfare of the command. 
In all such cases they will carry passes, approved and 
signed by their regimental or equivalent commanders, 
clearly stating the nature of the errand. 
6. This order as soon as received will be kept posted for 
ten days on the bulletin board of each organization, and will be 
read on three consecutive days at Retreat formation. 

By Command of Major-General O'Ryan. 
(Signed) H. H. BANDHOLTZ, 

Colonel, Chief of Staff. 
OFFICIAL— 

(Signed) Franklin W. Ward, 
Adjutant General, Adjutant. 
This is a true copy. 

(Signed) Kenneth Gow, 
1st Sergeant, M. G. Co. 



158 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

LETTER L 

Training Started in Earnest. — The Eirst Ser- 
geant's Strenuous Job. — Didn't Know What 
Work Was While in Texas. 

Camp Wadsworth, Sept. 25, 191 7. 
Dear Mama, Pop and Marj.: 

We have started on advance problems in machine-gun 




Mail Time at Tent of First Sergeant 

fire, range-finding and fire control. We have also started 
bomb-throwing drill, climbing out of dugouts and over 
parapets and redoubts and going through barbed wire 
entanglements. 

The new schedule runs like this: First call, 6 A. M. ; 
reveille and assembly, 6.15; first call for drill, 7.25; drill 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 159 

call, 7.30; recall, 11.30; first sergeant's call, 11.35; iriess, 
12 ; first call for drill, 12.55 P- M- ^ assembly, i ; recall, 5 ; 
first call retreat, 5.40; retreat, 5.45; taps, 11. You can 
figure out the time we have for ourselves. Personally, I 
have none at all. Well, we have started. The sooner it 
is all over the better. 

I am enclosing some clippings. The Herald did its 
best to get my name, but made a bad job of it. '*A. 
Loud" is supposed to be ''K. Gow." 

The weather is still cold. When are you coming 
down? I guess there will be plenty of room, and I am 
crazy to see you. I wish I could lay my hands on those 
grapes. There wouldn't be a surplus then, I'll warrant. 

I talked with Gaddy* all last evening. I have met 
but one or two men whose friendship is such a source of 
quiet satisfaction. 

I am terribly busy; nearing the end of the month, and 
I have the pay-roll, ration and company returns, etc., and 
I must do it all outside of drill hours, because first ser- 
geants must make all drills. I haven't yet found the 
thing I don't have to do or be responsible for. Great job 
this! This camp reminds me of Texas, because it is so 
radically different. We didn't know what work was 
there. We only thought we did. 

Write often. I look for a letter every day. Mail time 
is always the best time of the day. 
Love to you all. 

Ken. 

*Lt. Paul Helmuth Gadebusch. 



160 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

LETTER LI 

A Stiff Schedule. — No Time for Nonsense. — An 
Immense Camp. 

Spartanburg, S. C, Sept. 27, 19 17. 
Dear Walter: 

The fudge came last night. It is great. Thank your 
people ever so much. Have split both the fudge and 
taffy with Al. 

Have started our training school. It is also the end 
of the month, and I can hardly get five minutes to 
myself. Reveille and assembly at 6.15 A. M. ; mess, 
6.35; sick call, 6.55; fatigue, 7; stables, 7.05; first call, 
7.25; assembly for drill, 7.30; recall from drill, 11.30; 
first sergeant's caU, 11.35; rness, 12 noon; first call for 
drill, 12.55; drill i.oo P. M. ; recall, 5.30; first call for 
retreat, 5.40; assembly, 5.45; retreat, 5.55; mess call, 6; 
tattoo, 9; call to quarters, 10.45; taps, 11 P. M. As you 
will see, our actual drill periods are from 7.30 to 11.30 
in the morning, and from i.oo to 5.30 in the afternoon, 
eight and one-half hours. All of such endless work as 
tent-dressing, cleaning out showers and latrines, etc., 
must be done outside of drill hours. It is a stiff schedule. 
We have Wednesday and Saturday afternoons off. 

Am taking up advance machine gun work, bomb- 
throwing, and hours of drill in going ''over the top" and 
through barbed wire entanglements. An elaborate sys- 
tem of trenches, redoubts and parapets has been con- 
structed. So, you see, we have started. It is going to be 
hard plugging from now on, and no time for nonsense. 

The Third N. Y. pulled in last night. On the way 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 161 

down I noticed that the So. Ry. was making improve- 
ments at many places along the route. They are double- 
tracking from Charlotte to Spartanburg, and putting in 
miles of sidings and many spurs around here. The 
quantity of supplies, lumber, oil, tar, cracked stone, etc., 
that is coming in is inconceivable. Immense corrals are 
being constructed in the camp, also stables. If the corral 
fences were stretched out in a line, there v^ould be twenty 
miles of them. The camp has 30 J^ sq. miles in it. 

I use your compass a great deal. It is the most accu- 
rate one in the company. 

Yours, 

Ken. 

LETTER LII 

Rain and Mud. — The Mess. — Immense Supplies 
Being Brought In. 

Spartanburg, S. C, Sept. 29, 191 7. 
Dear Mama: 

It has rained steadily for three days, consequently 
the camp is transformed into a sea of mud. The weather 
has seriously upset the drill schedule. 

I don't seem to be able to write as I did in Texas. In 
the first place, I have been out of camp only twice, once 
in the evening and once to buy supplies. When I went to 
Texas, camp and army life were a new experience to me. 
Another thing, the Border was like a new country, while 
South Carolina is much like New Jersey. 

No new information regarding the reorganization as 
yet. We will have no more men. That means some 
work for me. 



162 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

Have forgotten about my chances for a commission, 
the best thing to do; expect nothing, never disappointed. 
Haven't heard anything yet regarding the reported 
assignment of U. S. R. officers to the regiment. They 
say we wiU get a lot of them. I am pktgging along, 
keeping very busy, so am contented, more or less. 

Marj.'s fudge was fine. You can send some cookies 
some time, if you want to. We are not messing as well 
as in Texas. They don't seem to find out just where the 
trouble is. The Government is issuing good stufT. The 
trouble is in our own mess-shack. There is plenty of 
beef on issue, but they seem to have cut down on the 




Tents of 107th U. S. Inf., Camp Wadsworth 
(From the West) 

bacon and ham allowance. It will take a little time to 
work things out. 

The quantity of supplies that is coming in here is 
staggering. In the northwest corner of the camp, that 
is near us, a remount station is being established. Im- 
mense corrals are under construction. The mules are 
beginning to come in, but I have seen no horses, with 
the exception of mounts brought down by artillery and 
cavalry units. 

Most of my work is temporarily completed. 

Ken. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 163 

LETTER LIII 

Bracing Weather and a Practice March. — Inocu- 
lation. — Kindness of the Men of the Com- 
pany. — Merit Bound to Win, So Not 
Much to Worry Over. 

Camp Wads worth, Oct. 2, 191 /. 
Dear Mama, Pop and Marj.: 

The weather cleared up beautifully Sunday, and has 
been perfect ever since — clear as a bell, with a snap and 
crispness in the air that keeps the men on their toes. It 
is very cold. I sleep under all my blankets, my sweater, 
overcoat and a pair of Lilly's socks on. 

We had a practice march this morning", covering 
about fifteen miles. We developed an advance and rear- 
guard action. I never took a more delightful walk in my 
life, the country fresh after the rain, and very little dust. 
The woods are beautiful, with numerous cuts and defiles. 
The hills are all heavily wooded with pine, oak and maple. 
I wish with all my heart we had our horses. The country 
here just seems to be made for military manoeuvres. 

B Co. is only two streets from us. They have an 
excellent octet and a soloist with a very fine voice. They 
are singing as I write, and it sounds very sweet. 

Tun Willis and I are going over to see Capt. Bates, to 
make certain arrangements. We received a combined 
inoculation against typhoid and paratyphoid this after- 
noon, consequently I have a very sore arm. They are 
doing it all over again. It seems to affect us all worse 
than formerly. The doctors say it is the combined dose. 



164 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

My throat is much better, and I am feeling fine all 
around. 

Jun says when I next write home to tell my sister 
how much he appreciates her fudge. I have had my 
picture taken about one hundred times. Every man that 
has a camera has come to me and asked if I wouldn't let 
him take my picture. Will send some home. The men 
are fine. Whenever anything to eat comes, they always 
send up some of it for me. Have found out that this 
county has more cotton-mills than any other county in 
the U. S., except the county Lowell, Mass., is in. 

Still no news regarding the reorganization. The First 
Infantry is here now, which we are to draw from. The 
regiment is much upset over a rumor that our vacancies 
are to be filled by U. S. R. officers. It seems to me that 
every man will reach his own level, and that merit is 
bound to win in the end. It certainly is the only common- 
sense way; so if we do get officers who are hopelessly 
incompetent, they will not last; they cannot. So I don't 
see that there is a whole lot to worry about. 

Hoping you are well, 

Kenneth. 

Oct. 3. 

The whole company knocked out today by the typhoid- 
paratyphoid inoculation. Physical impossibility to drill. 

Ken. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 165 

LETTER LIV 

Ti-iEiR East Review as the Seventh. — The Bayonet 

Manual. — The Best-Situated Camp in the 

Country. — Demoralizing the Chaplain. — 

Good Work of the Y. M. C. A. 

Spartanburg, S. C, Oct. 6, 191 7. 
Dear Mama: 

I received your note yesterday. Was certainly glad 
to hear that Rob came home, especially the night you 
were alone. 

We have just returned from a regimental review, 
tendered to Brig. -Gen. Phillips, who is division com- 
mander during the temporary absence of Gen. O'Ryan. 
The regiment made an exceptionally fine showing, for 
the men all realized that it was the last review that the 
Seventh New York Inftry. would ever give, as we take 
our new designation on Monday. It is not a cheerful 
thought, this one of losing our identity, and it has more 
or less made the old men unhappy when they realized 
that they would not parade again as the Seventh. 

The weather is still holding beautiful, air very brac- 
ing and the nights cold. When we are paid I am going to 
buy a comforter in town, as we hardly have enough bed- 
clothes to keep comfortably warm. I have bought an 
Ingersoll, so that I would have something until you can 
return my good watch. It is impossible for me to get 
along without one. 

Work has been rather easy this week, as there has 
been so much readjusting to do before the Eirst Inftry. 
start dumping their men on us. The work then will be 



166 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

stupendous. I am almost afraid to think of it. We all 
will be glad when it is over. 

I attended an exhibition drill of the new bayonet 
manual given by fifty of the non-commissioned officers 
of the line companies of this regiment. It was a very 
remarkable demonstration. They have it down to perfec- 
tion, and it is a terribly efficient way of doing away with 
a man. 

Walter has written saying that he is making plans 
to come down before Thanksgiving. We haven't the 
slightest idea of the length of our period of training. The 
programme covers sixteen weeks. We may finish it and 
we may not. Do you want to come down about the 
middle of November, or at some later date? The Cleve- 
land Hotel is the best in town, and is brand new. Will be 
awfully glad to see you whenever you come. 

The climate here is perfect. Everyone says that this 
is the best-situated camp in the country, and I am begin- 
ning to think so. It is hard to get conveyances into 
town. Gen. O'Ryan has set a maximum price of 15c 
per man for fare, and a lot of bus operators have taken 
their cars to Greenville and other camps where the regu- 
lations are negligible quantities and they can charge what 
they please. About one hundred cars have been with- 
drawn by their owners. You see, the commanding gen- 
eral has the right to keep all privately-owned cars off the 
reservation if he sees fit. So if these Turks don't live 
up to orders, they are run off the reservation. There is 
an electric railroad that runs through one corner of the 
camp. They are trying to get a permit to extend a spur 
that will tap most of the regimental headquarters and the 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 167 

division headquarters, but the Government hasn't seen fit 
to grant it yet. 

My throat is all O. K. again. The alkaline tablets 
fixed it. It is about all I can find time to do to write you 
and Walter, with an occasional letter to Rob. If you 
have plenty of grape jelly, send me down a jar; it will 
go fine. 

Charlie Chaplin has just interrupted me. That is our 
chaplain. He has just brought an announcement stating 
there will be a big church service tomorrow at 9 A. M., 
at which the Colonel and the colors will attend, with the 
band and the brigade stafl:'. I have been waiting for this, 
as a service of this kind is worth going a long way to 
attend. The Chaplain is the subject of much kidding 
by the other officers, amongst whom his nickname origi- 
nated. All the way down on the train they tried to get 
him into a poker game, and have taught him to smoke a 

pipe- 

The Y. M. C. A. is doing fine work here, as they did 
on the Border. Its representatives are all good men, and 
they are certainly doing their bit for their country in the 
association work. The entertainments that they produce 
are excellent, their speakers the best that can be had, and 
the Y. M. C. A. buildings are always crowded with 
soldiers. They seem to have an almost unlimited supply 
of baseball equipment, footballs, basketballs, quoits, etc. 
Their representatives go through all of the companies of 
each unit here and quietly watch the men. If there is a 
lack of any of the above-mentioned articles, they supply 
them. They are making it a policy to have one of their 
men mess with a certain regiment for a period. We have 



168 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

a man with us now. He pays into the company mess 
fund 50c a day for his chow. He is a very fine man, 
named Jennings, who has made himself very soHd with 
the men; consecjuently his influence for good is quite 
marked. I shall be sorry when he moves to the next 
company. 

Will write as soon as I can. 

Ken. 

LETTER LV 

Turns Down an ''Office" Commission. — An Enjoy- 
able Trip to Hendersonville. — Intensive Train- 
ing Exacts all One's Time. — First Ser- 
geant's Job No Sinecure. 

Spartanburg, S. C, Oct. 6, 191 7. 
Dear Mother: 

Received your letter of the 6th inst., one from Marj. 
and one from Rob today. Also received a letter from 
Pop from Springfield, Mass. Was awfully glad to hear 
from him. I have missed getting a letter from him, 
although I knew he was extremely busy. 

Marj.'s cake has arrived. It is fine, and made a fine 
time for us. Thanks ever so much. Also received my 
watch. Was surprised to get it back so quickly. 

I have received a letter from Vernon Henry stating 
that I can get a commission in the machine gun section of 
the Ordnance Dept. They are looking for trained 
machine gun men. The head of the department is Capt. 
Hatcher, our old instructor at the machine gun school at 
Harlingen. Henry, who is a first lieutenant in the same 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 169 

department, recommended me. I don't know what to 
do. It is not a case of what I want to do, but of what I 
ought to do. In accepting such a commission there would 
be no satisfaction to me. It does not come because of any 
personal merit on my part, and I hesitate to accept for 
that reason. And, again, I want field work, or at least 
executive work in the field. The ordnance job would 
keep me closely confined in an office or factory all the 
time. My station would be at Washington. I am in a 
dilemma. Will thrash it out tonight by myself, although 
I don't think there is much doubt about what I shall do. 

I got away for the whole day Sunday. Roger and 
Gaddy have bought a Studebaker. It is a dandy 
machine. We went to Hendersonville, N. C. It is in the 
midst of the Blue Ridge Mountains. It was without 
exception the most beautiful and delightful trip I have 
ever taken. A great many of the picture postals I have 
sent you were taken along the road to this town, com- 
monly called the Clinchfield Route. Hendersonville is 
2,500 feet above sea level, and only twenty miles from 
Asheville. In fact, we could have gone to the latter 
place if we had wanted to hurry. Will make it the next 
time. The round trip from camp to Hendersonville is 
112 miles. The road winds and twists and turns and 
doubles in a most confusing manner over the mountains. 
For miles it is cut out of the side of the mountains, with 
a drop of one or two hundred feet on one side and the 
hills rising sheer on the other. If we had met a car 
coming the other way, the Lord only knows what we 
would have done. The hills are beautiful, all heavily 
wooded, the leaves just beginning to turn, giving a 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 171 

dozen different shades to the mountain-sides. The road 
ch'mbs over a hill and then suddenly plunges into a valley 
on the other side; or it seems to come to an end against 
the base of a great mass of rock, with no apparent way 
out. At one point, after climbing for half an hour, we 
could look down and see the road over which we had 
just come almost directly beneath us. In many places 
the trees form a complete arch over the highway. Oak, 
birch, button wood, poplar, maple and beech, with, of 
course, the ever-present pine, are the commonest of the 
trees. There was a conspicuous absence of bird life, and 
practically no game seen at all. The thermometer at 
Hendersonville registered 51 deg., and the air was very 
bracing and fragrant with pine odor. We ate at a hotel 
there, dinner 75c. We had chicken, ham, yams, mashed 
potatoes, wax beans, corn, celery, beets, lima beans, hot 
corn bread, apple fritters, all the milk or coffee wanted, 
ice cream and angel-cake. All this was laid on the tables 
in big platters, and as soon as one was emptied a waiter 
carried it away and filled it again. I never saw the beat 
of it, and everything well cooked and just as nice as it 
could be. In all, Sunday was about as enjoyable a day 
as I have ever spent. 

Our real period of intensive training began on Mon- 
day. Everything is laid out on a schedule and strictly 
adhered to. Added to the drill hours I have already told 
3^ou of, we now have non-commissioned officers' school 
on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday nights and 
Wednesday and Saturday afternoons. These afternoons 
were the holidays, and still are for the privates. So you 
see we have no time at all to ourselves except Sundays. 



172 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

Pop writes that he hopes in the reorganization some- 
thing comes my way; but, if it doesn't, that the great 
thing in life is the consciousness that I have done my 
duty. That is the way I feel. I have never worried 
about getting a commission. My chief concern has been 
to hold down the job I have. I believe that personal 
merit is bound to count in the long-run, and that every 
man will find his own true level. So if I become qualified 
in the eyes of my officers to hold a commission, and 
there is a call for recommendations, my name will go in 
and I will get a chance for examination. 

I did not finish last night when I told you about 
Henry's letter. I shall answer him accordingly. I sup- 
pose that if I did go into the Ordnance Dept. I would be 
commissioned a second or first lieutenant, but that is as 
far as I would probably ever get. And, furthermore, I 
am convinced that I am more valuable to my country as 
a first sergeant of a machine gun company than as a lieu- 
tenant in the Ordnance Dept. If advancement should 
come, I decided some time ago that I wanted it direct 
from the ranks of my own regiment, or through my own 
officers, and I am going to stick to that resolution. If I 
happen to be the man for a certain job, they will find me. 
I have written a whole lot more about this than I 
intended. 

The weather has turned bad, a severe storm from the 
northeast raging. The camp is a sea of mud again, and 
very cold and disagreeable. I am sitting writing with 
everything I have on me, and my fingers numb. It is 
going to be pretty darn cold here this winter. 

The co'.npany is running fine. We will get 107 more 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 173 

men in the reorganization. I will have a hard job for 
a while. My work requires every bit of concentration, 
tact, sense of justice and diplomacy that I can exert. I 
have all the petty squabbles, grievances, real and fancied, 
to straighten out, and when it is necessary the ''hell" to 
give. Lt. Wilson runs the company through me abso- 
lutely. I have learned that discipline must be enforced to 
the last degree, and that the only way to handle men is 
with firmness, kindness and justice. 

I have not been paid yet; something wrong in the 
Q. M. office. I am going to buy a pair of rubber boots, 
the only thing to keep one's feet dry this wet weather. 

Hoping you are all well, 

Ken. 

LETTER LVI 

Spartanburg, Oct. 12, 191 7. 
Dear Mother and Marj.: 

Just a few lines to let you know I am well. With 
the non-commissioned officers' school I have very little 
time, and will have less time in the future, for these 
classes will entail more and more instruction as time goes 
on. We have not received our men from other regiments 
yet. I wish it were over with and we were settled. We 
have already received a tremendous lot of officers from 
other regiments. We lose only one officer in the reor- 
ganization, which proves that the regiment's rating is 
excellent. 

The weather is beautiful, but very cool; the air won- 
derful. Received the Outlook Pop sent. 

Ken. 



174 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



LETTER LVII 

Digging Trenches. — Every Man Allowed to Trans- 
fer TO Where He Will Be of Most Use. 

Spartanburg, S. C, Oct. 13, 191 7. 
Dear Walter: 

We dig trenches this afternoon and tomorrow, so you 
see the instruction is going ahead in spite of Saturdays, 




'^^ ''T>*'"*2 






Trench Section, Camp Wadsworth. 

Sundays and rain. Have non-com. school Monday, 
Tuesday, Thursday and Friday nights, and Wednesday 
and Saturday afternoons. This with my regular work 
gives hardly any time at all. Any extra time that I may 
have has to be spent in study, in preparation for these 
classes. 

Have not received our men from other organizations 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 175 

3^et, save two officers, which proves that our rating was 
excellent. Get a great many new ones in, of course, but 
no U. S. R/s. There is a great deal of transferring from 
one company to another in the regiment. We have lost 
six men, who have transferred to the H. Q. Co., one of 
these being D. Have gained five men who have been 
transferred from other companies to us. So it goes on, 
every man being allowed to go where he will be of the 
most service to his country. The H. Q. Co. will have 
297 men in it. They will be the mounted orderlies, intel- 
ligence department, cannoneers, motor cyclists, couriers, 
cyclists, etc. 

Kenneth. 

LETTER LVIII 

Decides to Stick With the Regiment. — Apprecia- 
tion OF TPiE Men Who Entertain the Others 
After Hard Days of Drill and Work. 

Spartanburg, Oct. 16, 1917. 
Dear Mama, Pop and Marj.: 

Have just got your letter of the 14th. Will look for 
your box. 

I have turned down Henry's proposition. I absolutely 
could not see how I was qualified for the job. I cannot 
feel that I am such a genius that the Government is 
being cheated in not commissioning me. My work is 
here, and I have a job that I understand, so am going 
to stick with the regiment. 

The reorganization is progressing rapidly. I have 
received some of our men, and will get fifty-six more 



176 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

tomorrow. Six of the line companies are filled to 250 
men. These companies seem enormous, and give a tre- 
mendous amount of work. The seriousness of the propo- 
sition is just beginning to dawn on us. Wednesday and 
Saturday afternoons and Sundays are the only times 
men can now leave camp. Non-coms are cut down to 
Sundays. It is all a good thing, for it will keep the 
men's minds on their work. 

I got over to an entertainment, given by the regi- 
ment and a few other men from other organizations, last 
night. I could only stay about fifteen minutes, but the 
thought struck me that it is a Godsend to have men who 
can entertain and who are willing at their own inconven- 
ience, and for no profit, to help others to forget the job 
that they are stacking up against, and after a hard day's 
drill. These men have drilled or worked hard all day 
themselves, and are in constant demand, and they always 
cheerfully go on the programme whenever they can. 
There is evidently a lot of good material in the regiment. 

Hope you are all well. I am feeling fine. Must stop 
and turn in, as it is long after taps, and I am dog tired 
mentally and physically. Am keeping industriously at 
my diary, but find it a hard job and a nuisance. 

Ken. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 177 

LETTER LIX 
The Best-Disciplined Division in the Army. 

Spartanburg, S. C, Oct. i6, 19 17.* 
Dear Walter: 

Nothing mysterious about the order I referred to. It 
covers the discipHnary measures taken in camp. When 
you see it you will understand why Gen. O'Ryan has the 
best-disciplined division in the army. 

There is a rumor that we will have eight or nine 
vacancies after all the available officers have been 
assigned, and that eight or nine commissions will be 
given to men who will be picked from the whole division 
and assigned to us. Naturally there is some speculation 
as to how our non-coms will shape up in comparison with 
those of the rest of the division, for it is Div. Head- 
quarters that has the say, and not the Colonel, which 
makes it some proposition for a man to get by, but is 
the only way. 

The weather is a little warmer today. It has been 
very cold, but the climate is wonderful. The cotton 
crop in this vState is the best in years, and is bringing the 
highest price it ever has, but it is almost impossible to get 
the labor to pick it. 
Ken. 

* On the anniversary of this day, Oct. 16, 1918, Kenneth Gow wrote his 
last letter. It also was addressed to "Walter." 



178 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

LETTER LX 

A Welcome Visit From Friends. — Return of the 

Captain. — First Sergeant's Job Man-Size. — 

The Personnel of the Reorganized M. G. 

Co. — A Cosmopolitan Roster. 

Spartanburg, Oct. 22; 1917. 
Dear Mama, Pop and Marj.: 

,: I got the box today after a good deal of trouble. I 
managed to get one of our supply trucks which was in 
town to bring it out. The jelly is certainly fine. It is the 
only thing I have opened y^t. That man of Pop's must 
have thought that he was sending the box to France, it 
was so well packed. [■ 

The /Trvings" came to Spartanburg yesterday. I saw 
them at the Cleveland last night, and they came out to 
camp for a little while this morning. They were very 
nice and I was glad to see them. 

Captain Gardner came back last night. I never was 
so glad to see anyone in my life. He goes as an instructor 
to the division school, so I will see very little of him, 
which is exceedingly unfortunate. We have 3,699 men 
in the regiment now. Just think of iti Thave 172 men. 
Have no time for anything, hardly. This is written 
after taps, when I ought to be in bed, but I have no other 
time, so terribly busy. The pay-rolls and muster-rolls are 
ITerculean tasks this month. About seventy-five per cent, 
of the men we have received have lost clothing, equip- 
ment, etc. This is all to be charged on the pay-rolls, and 
I have to do it. The Machine Gun Co. has received men 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 179 

from each of the twelve h'ne companies of the First 
N. Y. and from the Machine Gun Co. of that organiza- 
tion, from the Twelfth N. Y. In f try. and from our 
own line companies. Each detachment was transferred 
to us on a separate order, which makes just that much 
more work on the muster-roll. I cannot give you any 
conception of the work, so will not try, but I never had 
so much to look after in my life. This first sergeant's 
job is man-size. 

We have got a ver}^ mixed assortment. Here are a 
few of the new names on my roster: Dieffenbacher, Hoff- 
meister, Patrick Finnegan, Salvatore Poliodoro, Chaffi- 
otte, Denis Donnelly, Balzano Pellegrino, Zajii, McGui- 
gan, Sammy Weinstein,* Karl Stressel, Murtha, Muthig, 
Schwartz, etc. vSome are not as bad as their names 
sound, and some are worse. For instance, Pat Finnegan 
is a gentleman ; a man that I have named Byron Lorenzo 
is a roughneck ; so there is very little in a name. I have 
two fine men who are a delight to talk to and watch 
work. Both came from the First Infantry, Geo. Camp- 
bell and Gordon Cobb, both born in Scotland. Campbell 
is very steady, conscientious and reliable. He is a ser- 
geant, and comes from somewhere near Glasgow. Cobb 
is from Aberdeen, is a horseshoer and blacksmith, and 
will be used by us as such — a fine man. I wish I 
could tell you the hundred and one experiences I 
have almost daily with the men, but cannot because of 
having no time. Until after the first I will have to buckle 
down to work and forget everything else. 

This climate is delightful, but the weather very cold. 



*Afterwards cited for gallantry and meritorious service. 



180 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

What news from Rob? Received Marj.'s letter from 
Mineola. Thanks ever so much for the box. 
Love to all, 

Ken. 

LETTER LXI 

Cold Weather and Discomfort. — Hard Work and 
Long Hours. 

Camp Wadsworth, Oct. 26, 19 17. 
Dear Mama and Pop : 

Received your letter of the 2 1 st, and glad to hear that 
you are well. The jelly is gone. We certainly did enjoy 
it. I put it on the table, and the other sergeants praised 
it to the skies. 

I am fearfully busy, and will not be able to write 
much until after the 3d November, when most of the 
rush will be over. I have got my horse, but haven't had 
time to get on his back even. I am at it from six in the 
morning until twelve at night. 

The weather has been extremely cold; four inches of 
ice in our pails every morning. The men are very miser- 
able, but they are issuing winter clothing as fast as possi- 
ble. I had to get an oil stove for my tent. The big tents 
have Sibley stoves in them. They have a bad effect. The 
men coop themselves up and then run out. Result, hun- 
dreds of cases of bad colds. I have to watch them as a 
cat does a mouse. 

I must stop, as I am stupid from want of rest. It 
is now I A. M., and I must be up at 6 again. I never 
imagined one man would have so much to do. I have 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 181 

Gaddy with me constantly. He is very reliable and 
dependable. I am very well, and I think have put on 
weight. When are vou thinking of coming down? 

Ken. 

LETTER LXII 

Details of a First Sergeant's Work. — Recom- 
mended FOR a Commission. — Getting Hardened Up. 

Spartanburg, S. C., Nov. 2, 191 7. 
Dear Mama, Pop and Marj.: 

The rush is over, thank Heaven, and I have time to 
at least breathe again. I have never been under such a 
strain in my life. My pay-roll was in on Tuesday, and 
the muster-roll I completed Wednesday morning. The 
pay-roll comprised thirty-eight pages, 12 in. by 12 in. 
page size, and written solid. There are 172 men on 
the roll, with a complete chronological history of how 
they were transferred to the regiment, etc. Nine-tenths 
of the company have allotments running; that is, a man 
allots to his mother, wife or sweetheart a certain per- 
centage of his pay. An explanation of this must be made 
in the ''remarks" column on the pay-roll, with the name 
of the allottee; the amount must be deducted and the 
period stated for which the allotment runs — six months, 
twelve months, or whatever the period is. 

Since Tuesday, Oct. 23, I have been so busy that I 
could not even take the company at formations. That 
day I worked from 6.30 in the morning until taps at 
eleven o'clock P. M. Wednesday the same until mid- 



182 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



night; Thursday the same; Friday the same. Saturday 
I turned in at taps. Sunday I worked until about twelve. 
Monday I finished my payroll at 2.30 in the morning. I 
was up again at six, and worked all day on a draft of 

the muster-roll and a 
lot of other detail 
work. I had the mus- 
ter-roll ready for the 
typewriter about nine 
that night. Took 
Gaddy* to help me. 
We started at ten 
Tuesday night and 
finished it to the last 
name at a quarter of 
six the next morning. 
I wrote on the ma- 
chine as Gaddy dic- 
tated from my draft. 
Between ten that 
night and 5.45 the 
next morning I got up 
from the typewriter 
only once. By work- 
ing all night, we had 
it ready for the Colo- 
nel Wednesday morning. Our roll was the only one in 
the regiment in on time. 

When I got up after writing in the last name, I was 
so dizzy I could not stand. I worked the machine like an 
automaton. I never had such an experience in my life. 




Sergts. Gow and Gadebusch. 



^Sergeant Paul Helmuth Gadebusch. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 183 

Strange as it may seem, my muster-roll did not have a 
mistake, although I was almost exhausted before I began 
it. From Sunday until Wednesday night I had exactly 
ten and a half hours' sleep. I figured my company's 
monthly return Wednesday morning and got my ration 
return in at noon. These are both nasty things to figure. 
The company return shows gains and losses for month 
of men and animals, and must balance. The ration return 
is figured like this: We draw for ten or eleven day 
periods. A ration is the allowance for the subsistence of 
one person or animal per day. We have i ']2 men on our 
rolls. We draw only for our present strength. So if on 
the tenth of the month I requisition for eleven days, I 
draw 1,892 rations for that day. If we gain men during 
the period we draw for, we requisition for an addition to 
the return on the next drawing. For instance, we draw 
for an eleven-day period on the tenth of the month; on 
the fifteenth we gain ten men. That means that we are 
feeding ten extra men for a period of seven days for 
whom no rations had been drawn, so we requisition 
seventy additional rations on the next return. The same 
holds good for losses. If we should lose ten men, we 
would deduct the seventy rations from the next return. 

Soap, toilet paper, candles, etc., I figure this way: We 
are allowed of soap 0.64 oz. for each ration; of candles 
0.24 oz. for each ration; toilet paper, 1,000 sheets for 
each sixty rations requisitioned for. Forage for our ani- 
mals I figure the same way. The allowance is 3 1-3 lbs. 
of bedding per animal per day; 14 lbs. of hay per animal 
per day; oats, 12 lbs. per horse per day, 9 lbs. per mule 
per day; bran, 3 lbs. per animal per day; salt, 8-ioth oz. 



184 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

per animal per day; vinegar, i-io gill per animal per day. 
I thought you would be interested in all this, as it is 
very absorbing to me. My pay-roll v^as also v^ithout an 
error, and the second one in to the adjutant. Almost 
seventy-five per cent, of the men v^ho came to us from 
the First Infantry owed the Government money for fines 
and lost equipment and clothing. All this had to be 
figured on the pay-roll. 

I went to bed at 7 o'clock Wednesday night so "all in" 
that I could hardly think, and positively could not see 
straight. I slept through all the calls the next morning, 
and didn't even hear the reveille gun, which generally 
almost knocks us out of our cots. The Captain* would 
not let them wake me up. 

Now I am going to tell you a secret, which is going to 
be hard for me to say much about; so don't think I am 
conceited, for I am anything but that. There will be a 
few vacancies throughout the regiment for lieutenancies. 
Sixteen men of this regiment have been recommended for 
commissions from a picked list of ninety-five. My name 
heads this list with the Colonel's notation that I am the 
most eflicient first sergeant in the regiment. My commis- 
sion may come through and it may not. Don't expect too 
much. I expect nothing, so will not be disappointed if 
nothing happens. It is quite some consolation to know 
that, although I am the junior first sergeant in the regi- 
ment, I am rated at the top. Maybe it doesn't say much 
for the other first sergeants, but I have an idea that we 
have the best first sergeants in the division. 

Must stop, as I am still very tired. The captain made 
me go for a ride with him yesterday afternoon. We have 

* Capt. Kenneth Gardner, 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 185 

very fine horvSes. I expect to go for a long one Sunday. 
One of the men snapped the enclosed when I wasn't look- 
ing [referring to a photo]. Have put board sides in my 
tent since this was taken. I was making out my morning 
report at the time. You can just see my cot at the back. 

The weather has been very cold. I go out in the open 
and take a cold shower with the thermometer at 30 deg. 
I work all day with my tent wide open. Can you imagine 
it ? I guess we are hardening up all right. The nights are 
very cold, and we have a hard job keeping warm. They 
are holding a big State fair here, and I notice there are 
prizes for the best Jerseys entered. Did the Club donate 
these ? 

We will be reviewed by the Governors of New York 
and South Carolina tomorrow. Show this letter to 
Walter. I haven't time to write two of this length. 

Ken. 

LETTER LXIII 

^'Everlastingly" Cold. — The Pleasures of Cross- 
country Rides. 

Spartanburg, Nov. 6, 191 7. 
Dear Mother: 

Just a short note. I am feeling fine, but it is ever- 
lastingly cold. I never saw such heavy hoar-frosts. This, 
of course, means that the nights are very damp. There 
is a chill in the air, outside of the fact that it is cold, 
that there is no getting away from, and it seems to get 
into the very marrow of your bones. 

I have taken out a $10,000 Government life insur- 



186 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



ance policy. Will carry it entirely out of my army pay. 
I can have the money delivered direct to you by the Gov- 
ernment, or can leave it with them, at four per cent, 
interest. This seems to be the best plan at present. 

When do you think you will come down? I would 
not like to have you put it off until so late. I will have 

to know a good while 
ahead of the time, in 
order that I may make 
reservations for you. 
I go riding with 
the captain on all off 
times. There is noth- 
ing better to be de- 
sired than a good 
horse, a bracing day, 
the pine-clad hills and 
the company of a 
man you admire and 
respect. Other men 
and officers always go 
off in bunches, but the 
captain and I always 
alone. There is no one 
else in the company 
who can ride with us anyway, for we always go across 
country and over streams and fences, and the captain 
doesn't want anyone who can't stick by him. He has the 
spirits of a schoolboy on these occasions. 

Enclosed are some pictures. One picture is the com- 
pany street before the reorganization, taken from the 




Capt. Kenneth Gardner (left) and 
First Sergt. Kenneth Gow. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 187 

mess-shack. You can see the shower-baths at the foot 
of the street. 



Kenneth. 



LETTER LXIV 



Christmas Furloughs. — Horseback Riding Only 
Recreation. 

Camp Wads worth, Nov. ii, 19 17. 
Dear Marj.: 

Received your letter from Mineola. Walter is com- 
ing down Saturday, and I shall certainly be glad to see 
him. Have not heard from Rob since he went to Allen- 
town. I just received a telegram from Walter, in which 
he mentioned that Rob was home for the week-end. 

I should like to get home over Christmas, but it will 
be impossible. There has been about fifty requests for 
furloughs from this company. I don't think that any of 
them will be granted. H headquarters started that sort 
of thing, the whole division would want to go home for 
the holidays. I suppose that I could get away, but have 
another thing to consider. It is unfortunately one of 
my duties to set an example for the rest of the company 
to follow, n they should see the first sergeant going 
home for no better reason than to see his family and be 
with them over the holidays, they would see no reason 
why they shouldn't do the same. 

My diary has gone to the dogs. No time to keep it. 
It is just a nuisance, and with so many other things on 
my mind I simply cannot remember the confounded 
thing. The only recreation I take is on my horse. The 



188 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



captain and I go out every Wednesday, Saturday and 
Sunday afternoons. We have got all the persimmon 
trees spotted within a radius of five miles from camp. 
Not one out of a hundred men in the division seem to 
know what they are ; consequently they are plentiful. 

The training is being 
pushed in a very rigorous 
fashion, and they ought 
to have us ready by the 
end of January. Lights 
were connected up all 
through camp last week, 
so we now have electricity 
in the tents, which is a 
great convenience. Am 
feeling well. I seldom 
feel in the mood to write 
long letters, as I write a 
great deal in connection 
with my work. That commission will probably be a long 
time in coming through, if it comes at all. 

Ken. 







l^^s' 



LETTER LXV 

Bayonet Drill. — Collecting for Thanksgiving 
Dinner. 



Camp Wadsworth, Nov. 15, 19 17. 
Dear Mother: 

The weather has been beautiful, and I have been 
working very hard. The administration work is ever on 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



189 



the increase, and I am trying to keep up as much drill as 
possible. Gadebusch and I have been detailed to a divi- 
sional school in the British bayonet drill under a Major 
Sharp of the British Army. It is work of the hardest 
kind, terribly realistic, but very absorbing and a wonder- 
ful training physically. 
There are only twenty- 
six of us. 

I am closing in my 
tent, which will cost a lot 
of money, but I must be 
comfortable. Our com- 
pany fund is low, so T 
cannot get any assistance. 
I bought a quilt for $4.50, 
and some other things I 
badly needed. I will be 
glad to see Walter. He 
will tell you all about 
things when he gets back. 

I wrote you for a fruit- 
cake. If you can manage 
to buy enough sugar, send 
it for Thanksgiving. We are going to give as big an 
entertainment and dinner here in the company as we can, 
and I will add the cake to the collection of food for the 
company. 

I hope you are all well. 

Kenneth. 



^^' 





Major Sharp, British Army. 



190 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

LETTER LXVI 
Eliminating Undesirables. 

Camp Wadsworth, Nov. 19, 1917. 
Dear Mama and Pop: 

You will probably have seen Walter before this let- 
ter reaches you, and he will have told you all about 
everything. 

We have discharged six of our "cripples" to date. 
About five more will go during the next week, and on 
Wednesday we get rid of seven more undesirables by 
transferring them back to their original regiments. 

We are progressing in fine shape in the bayonet 
school. It is the hardest and most difficult thing I have 
ever tackled. The instructor takes every ounce of vitality 
out of us by the time we are ready for dismissal. 
With love, 

Kenneth. 

LETTER LXVII 

The Strenuous Bayonet Class Work. 

Camp Wadsworth, Nov. 22, 191 7. 
Dear Mama: 

Enclosed is a receipt and notification of my insur- 
ance. The policy will be delivered to you. Beginning with 
December, the Govt, will send you a check each month. 
This is the allotment from my pay. I am paying for the 
insurance here, the premium being payable every month. 
The $10,000 costs $84 a year. 

The bayonet class is the hardest work I have ever 
had, for both muscle and brain. One of the things we 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



191 



have to do is to jump backwards into a trench eight or 
nine feet deep. We have been having three hours daily, 
and it is going to be increased to six. In the three hours 
we have five minutes' rest. There are only twenty-six of 
us, it being a picked class. We were rated today as to 
ability and athletic qualities. I got fifty per cent. — that 
is, they rated me as average, half the class being better 





^ t . ^ ' •» ^ i 




j^^H^ 


■H^^^^^;' „* ■-- ""*' 


-^^^^n^^mmmm^ 



Class in Bayonet Drill. 

and half worse; which is not so bad in a picked class. 
The other men all have had weeks' more experience in 
handling the rifle than Gaddy and I, who practically 
never had any work along that line, the company, as you 
know, not being armed with the rifle. I have no doubt 
about going ahead, and when we are rated again I should 
have at least 85%. 

With love. 

Ken. 



192 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

LETTER LXVIII 

Welcome Visitors in Camp. — Training for Trench 
Warfare. 

Camp Wadsworth, Nov. 26, 191 7. 
Dear Pop: 

I have been intending to ask you for a good while 
whether the Seventh Regiment Gazette has been coming, 
The last issue is a very good one. The Gazette will keep 
you in closer touch with the regiment than anything 
else, and it will always have accurate accounts of our 
doings. 

I am busy on the pay-roll again, which is a still bigger 
job than last month. I have all the insurance and other 
allotments this month, as well as a tremendous amount 
of work in addition, caused by changes in a man's status. 
I am almost alone in the company street, as the company 
is living in the trenches for two days. Helmuth* is 
here writing beside me. He is the best company in the 
world, and my right-hand man in the company, always 
there when I want him. His mother was down over 
Saturday and Sunday. I had dinner with them on Satur- 
day night. On Sunday noon I was a guest at a very select 
dinner given by Mrs. G. There were Lt. Willis and Mrs. 
Willis, Capt. Gardner, Helmuth and myself. It was 
served in a private dining-room at the Cleveland, and 
was a most enjoyable affair. Jun says he called you up 
when he was home. 

Can't you set a date for coming down? I received 
a letter from Rob saying they were to have ten days at 
Christmas. That will be fine. I am not in the trenches 

* Sergt. Gadebusch. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 193 

on account of the bayonet school and my payroll. Your 
newspaper clipping is fine. Gen. Bell is O. K. 

The occupation of the trenches is done just as it 
will be in France. Troops sneak in at night through long 
communicating trenches. Each battalion or regiment, as 
the case may be, goes in for two days. This time will be 
gradually increased. There are umpires, most of whom 
are English, Canadian or French officers, on the watch all 
the time. Troops coming in at night must get there 
unobserved. Flares are used, scouting parties are con- 
tinually sent across no-man's land, charged barbed wire 
entanglements are cut, etc., etc., simulating the European 
battle- front in every respect. 

Love to mama and Marj, 

Kenneth. 

LETTER LXIX 
Thanksgiving Dinner in Camp. 

Camp Wads worth, Nov. 29, 191 7. 
Dear Marj.: 

Just a few lines to let you know about our Thanks- 
giving Day. First I must tell you that I received a letter 
from Rob last night saying that Ambulance Co. No. 33 
were coming to Charlotte, N. C. That town is only about 
seventy miles north of Spartanburg, and it is a very fine 
camp as far as I can find out. The cake was wonderful. 
We had a very fine dinner today. The Government fur- 
nished turkeys, which were very good and cooked to a 
turn, the cooks staying up all night preparing our meal, 
which they had ready at two o'clock this afternoon. We 



194 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

had turkey, chestnut dressing, turnips, mashed potatoes, 
butter, celery, coffee with milk, oranges, bananas, pie, ice- 
cream and cake, all we wanted of everything. We will 
probably half starve for two weeks on account of it, but 
it certainly went fine today. 

One year ago today we had just returned from the 
Border. A lot of things have happened in that year. I 
suppose Mrs. G. has called you up and told you some 
more about us all. You see, now that you have heard so 
many accounts of us, you will have to come down your- 
self and see if they are all true. Can't you set a date? 

Tell Pop the h with business. I want to see you all, 

and, besides, the trip will be a good vacation for you 
all, and I will have lots of things of interest to show you. 

Am enclosing Jun's wedding announcement, which I 
would like to keep. 

Ken. 

LETTER LXX 
Fear of Losing the Captain. 

Spartanburg, S. C, Nov. 29, 191 7. 
Dear Walter: 

Have been very busy since you left — end of the 
month, and I have pay-roll, etc. Very hard this month, 
on account of insurance premiums, compulsory allot- 
ments, etc. Also, the ruling entitling men to continuous 
service pay for previous enlistments in the National 
Guard has gone through, making more work for us. 

Weather has turned very cold since you left. Sunday 
night everything froze up solid, and we had no water 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 195 

the next day. Tommy O'Shea's flivver also froze, with 
disastrous results. 

I think we are going to lose Captain Gardner. Last 
Friday Gen. McCain, adjutant general of the army, tele- 
graphed Gen. Philips, commander of the 27th Division, 
to send Capt. G. to Washington, relative to a transfer to 
the Embarkation Dept. of the Q. M. Corps, to handle 
the admiralty situation. Facing the future without Capt. 
Gardner seems almost a hopeless proposition. He is one 
of the ablest admiralty lawyers in New York, and of 
course his services would be a hundred times as valuable 

in that department as here. He just had a h of a 

time deciding between what he ought to do and what he 
wanted to do. 

Thanksgiving Day! A year ago today we had just 
returned from the Border. A year from today the Ford 
only knows where we will be.* 

Ken. 

LETTER LXXI 
The M. G. Co. on Guard for the First Time. 

Spartanburg, S. C, Dec. i, 191 7. 
Dear Walter: 

Pen, wristlets and helmet arrived to-night. Thank 
you for your trouble, and your people for the other 
things, which will be very useful. 

The news in today's paper is very disheartening. Italy 
does not seem to be able to make any resistance, and it 
seems quite possible for Russia to make a separate peace 
with Germany. 

* The writer was in a soldier's grave in France. 



196 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

Jun has arrived back in camp with his bride. She is 
a wonderful girl, and has started to run things already, 
including me. She has a thousand and one ideas for the 
company Christmas party, which we are going to make 
as much of as possible. 

The weather is rather mild again after our cold snap. 
The company is on guard. One battalion of the regi- 
ment is living in the trenches, one battalion is on exterior 
guard, and the other has just come out of the trenches, so 
it was up to us to furnish the interior guard, the first 
time this company has ever gone on. 

Ken. 

LETTER LXXII 

A. W. O. L. AND ITS Consequences. — Apprehension 

IN Regard to Losing the Captain. — The Path 

OF Duty Not Always Plain. 

Camp Wadsworth, Dec. 2, 1917. 
Dear Mother and Family: 

Well, I guess that hospital crowd were lucky. Being 
absent without leave is one of the most serious breaches 
of discipline on the books. We deal without mercy with 
men who commit this offense. Our company now has 
a man at hard labor for this. He was tried by a summary 
court and sentenced to forty-five days at hard labor and 
to forfeit thirty days' pay, and he was absent only two 
days. He is a marked man for the rest of his military 
career, for he cannot get advancement with that black 
mark on his service record. When a man is absent with- 
out leave, a commanding officer has no choice in the mat- 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 197 

ter, but must have the man placed under arrest as soon as 
apprehended and bring charges against him before a gen- 
eral court-martial or a summary court. Failing in this, 
the commanding officer is himself open to charges. I don't 
blame these men, because their commanding officer has 
probably never taken the trouble to read and explain the 
Articles of War to his men, nor to discipline them in the 
right way. Disciplined troops never take French leave. 
The way we look at it is this: if a man will do that now, 
he will do it in France; therefore he is not dependable, 
and we don't want him. Of course there is no excuse 
for one of our men, because the first thing we do is to 
acquaint him with what he can and cannot do. At pres- 
ent there are nine cases of absence without leave in the 
regimental guard-house. The enlisted strength of the 
regiment is approximately 3,500, so you see these cases 
are reduced to about the minimum. 

It looks as if we were going to lose the captain. If 
he goes, whether or not I stay with the company will 
depend to some extent on who we will get as our next 
captain. My own promotion is very dubious. The new 
commissions were to have come through several weeks 
ago, but there is a hitch somewhere, and I doubt very 
much if they ever materialize. There is an excess of 
officers in this division now, and I can't see the sense of 
commissioning more when they already have more than 
they know what to do with. The captain ordered me to 
make application for the next series of training camps, 
which I have done, much against my will. If it is cer- 
tain that the captain will remain, I shall withdraw the 
application. Of course I may not be recommended, as 




© Underwood & Underwcod. 

Capt. Kenneth Gardner. Afterwards Promoted to Rank of 
Major, then to Lieutenant-Colonel. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 199 

only 1.7 per cent, of the total strength of each organiza- 
tion will be selected. The next training camps open in 
January, and are only for enlisted men. 

Without Captain Gardner the future seems somewhat 
dubious, and I have never felt so badly in my life about 
anything. Under him I have earned the reputation of 
being the best first sergeant in the regiment. This was 
told him by the regimental adjutant, Captain Despard, 
the man most qualified to judge impartially. I enjoy 
Captain Gardner's confidence to the fullest degree. 
Papers that I prepare which, if sent in wrong, would 
result in the captain being court-martialed, he always 
signs without looking at. The pay-rolls he never verifies, 
leaving this entirely to me. The muster-rolls he accepts 
as I give them to him. If a man's status is mis-stated on 
a muster-roll, it results in a summons to Washington. 
And so with everything. The administration of the com- 
pany in the street he never interferes with. 

Captain Gardner is recognized as one of the ablest 
captains in the division. He never had a high-school 
education, but worked his way through college, working 
at whatever came along. Two summers he mixed con- 
crete with a gang of laborers, and when I tell you that he 
weighs only 119 lbs., you can appreciate what that means. 
He started in the law in New York without knowing a 
soul, and became one of the ablest admiralty lawyers in 
New York. This reputation is what will probably take 
him away from us. 

The commanding general of the 27th Division 
received a telegram from Gen. McCain, the adjutant- 
general of the army, directing him to transfer the captain 



200 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

to the Embarkation Service, Q. M. Corps, National Army. 
They want a man to take care of the ship question, which 
seems to be in a tangle. The captain is that man with- 
out a doubt. He would be of more benefit to his country 
serving in that capacity than in almost any other. The 
O. M. Corps must be full of incompetents. The men who 
were so hopeless in the officers' training camps that they 
could not possibly be recommended for places in the line, 
were shoved into the Q. M. Corps, with the result that 
it is the most inefficient branch of the service, and at the 
same time it is the most important. A man like Captain 
Gardner would be a Godsend. But you can appreciate 
how I feel personally. 

The captain is terribly upset about it, for his heart is 
in this company. All the men in it whom he trusts with 
its running enlisted as privates under him, and were 
selected by him for the positions which they now fill. He 
sent for me and asked what I would do under the circum- 
stances, and I told him that there was only one thing to 
do, and that was to accept. His duty to his country, to 
his wife and his two children pointed only one way. 

In the German Army they select the best men they 
have for their Quartermaster Corps, for that is the way 
battles are won. Transportation and all supplies depend 
on the efficiency of this department. It is on the man at 
the desk that success in battle often depends. He is 
away from the din and glamor of battle, and is always 
denied popular favor, yet he clothes, feeds, pays, shelters, 
transports and otherwise looks after the man behind the 
gun, whose health, comfort, contentment and success 
depend on the unspectacular work of the man at the 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 201 

desk. All this the captain had to consider. But there is 
nothing to do now but wait and see what happens. Lieut. 
Willis is in temporary command of the company. 

I did not go into the trenches on account of the pay- 
roll. I could not have completed it in time if I had gone, 
so kept my clerk also, and when the company returned to 
quarters Tuesday night I had it ready for the men's 
signatures. The next tour of trench duty will be for two 
days, and the one after that for three days, and so on. 
We will also probably go to the range very shortly for a 
period of ten days. The work is growing more and more 
every day. 

Can't you make some plans about coming down? 
With all this trench duty, etc., coming, I can hardly say 
when the best time will be. We never know until the 
last minute when these things will come, and you might 
come down and I wouldn't be able to see you. This you 
will have to take a chance on. 

I must stop and turn in, as I am tired, and bayonet 
school, five hours of it, comes tomorrow. 
With love, 

Kenneth. 

LETTER LXXIII 

Furloughs in Prospect. — Cold Weather for 
Trench Duty. 

Camp Wadsworth, Dec. 7 and 10, 191 7. 
Dear Mama: 

I can get home on furlough over either Christmas or 
New Year's for five days. Authorization has just come 
in to allow five per cent, of the company strength on 



202 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

leave. More good news is that it looks now as if the 
captain will eventually return to us. 

The company is living in the trenches again, but they 
wouldn't let me go on account of a sore throat. It is 
much better. For four days I could only speak in whis- 
pers. The weather is very cold, the thermometer being 
down to ten degrees above this morning, and everything 
frozen up. They had to use axes on the watering- 
troughs. There is no water running, the mains frozen 
and burst. They did not lay them deep enough. The 
men are having a miserable time in the trenches. When 
they went in a cold rain was driving down from the 
north, and during the night came the sudden drop in the 
temperature. Gen. O'Ryan is back with us again after 
a long absence. 

Kenneth. 

LETTER LXXIV 

Inspection in a Blizzard in the ''Sunny" South. — 
Great Preparations for Celebrating Christ- 
mas. — Their British Army Instructors. 

Camp Wads worth, Dec. 14, 191 7. 
Dear IVIama and Pop: 

I received your letter tonight, and will let you know 
a little later regarding the time I will be able to leave 
for home. I will not get away until the last minute, as 
this is my busiest month. I want to be home for New 
Year's, if possible. 

We are experiencing the same cold wave that you 
are. The thermometer has remained in the vicinity of 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



203 



six degrees since the first of the week, and we have about 
eight inches of snow on the ground. It is impossible to 
keep warm. Everything is frozen up, and we have to 
melt snow for water to wash in. On Tuesday afternoon 
the regiment was suddenly ordered out on an inspection 
evening parade by some Regular Army inspecting offi- 
cers. We stood for an hour shivering in a blinding 
snowstorm coming from the North, with a biting wind 




Digging Out After a Snowstorm in the "Sunny South." 



driving the snow into our eyes and ears. I sat on my 
horse, and it was all that I could do to prevent him from 
bolting, and when we returned I could hardly get off 
him. The fellow who called this the ''Sunny South" 
was a humorist.* You seldom have weather as severe 
as this at home so early in the year. 

I wrote that I had received the fudge, which was a 
surprise, and, as usual, was fine. You might send a 

*It was the hardest winter on record in this part of the United States. 



204 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

cake for Christmas, as you did for Thanksgiving, and I 
will use it in a similar way. We are arranging for a big 
party on that day. Mrs. Willis, of course, has a promi- 
nent part in the arrangements, with the first sergeant [the 
writer] as a close second. We will have a tree for each 
man, with something on it, mostly socks and tobacco. 
Mrs. Willis sent a letter to the family of each man. She 
has also managed, the Lord only knows how, to get an 
appropriation from the Ladies' Auxiliary, which will be 
used to the best advantage possible. The division will 
also have a community Christmas tree. This will be set 
up on the parade grounds in front of division head- 
quarters. A chorus of 400 voices is now being trained 
to sing carols, etc., and the rest of the division will be 
expected to join in. 

The tension cord on my typewriter has just snapped, 
so I will have to continue with a pen. The machine is 
rendered totally hors de cow.bat. 

I have made fast friends with the British sergeant- 
ma j or "^^ who has been instructing us in physical and 
bayonet work. He is a remarkable man, the typical 
Kipling Tommy Atkins. He served twelve years in 
India; he also served in Egypt, South Africa and Aus- 
tralia. At the outbreak of the war his regiment was in 
the mountains somewhere in India, and two months later 
they were in France, a part of the 27th Division, the 
same number as ours. He got to France just as the 
German advance was about spent. He was through the 
battle of the Marne, served eighteen months in the Ypres 
sector, and was in several other districts which I don't 
remember the names of. 

* 3ergt.-Major Tector. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



205 



I went to this man's tent last night, which is situated 
at headquarters, and I never spent such a fascinating and 
interesting evening. There was a sergeant from one of 
the Scotch regiments, two other Enghsh sergeants, this 
sergeant-major and also a French sergeant who speaks 
very good English. Well, I just wish you could have 
heard them. Between 
them all, they had been in 
nearly every big engage- 
ment on the western 
front, and we heard and 
learned a lot of things we 
never knew before. They 
had all been in the trenches 
from two to two and a 
half years. Incidentally, 
they are all unfit for act- 
ive service. They are all 
very fine types of soldiers. 
England has sent her very 
best men here as instruc- 
tors. 

My cold is better. I 
had it bad, but managed 
to get rid of it without 
lying up. The captain 

will, I think, be back with us by Christmas. I hope you 
are well, and you cannot guess how anxious I am to see 
you. I wrote Rob, telling him of my plans. It certainly 
would be great if he could get home, too. 

Kenneth. 




Captain Dean, British Army. 

Instructor at Camp 

Wadsworth. 



206 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

LETTER LXXV 

Preparing for Furlougpi. — A Frost-Stricken 
Camp. 

M. G. Co., 107th U. S. Inftry., 

Camp Wadsworth, Dec. 16, 191 7. 
Dear Pop: 

I expect to leave for home on the 30th, two weeks 
from today. The P. R. R. has just announced the with- 
drawal of fifteen daily through trains, and also their 
intention to run no more trains over the Southern Rail- 
way. This necessitates a change at Washington, with 
consequent delay. The service here is wretched. Will 
you send me $40 by P. O. money order. We have not 
been paid for November yet, and information from the 
O. M. is that there is no prospect until about Christmas. 

The weather is terrible here also — continued cold. 
Snow since last Monday ; will be a week tomorrow, and 
it hasn't melted a bit. Just think of that in South Caro- 
lina! The men are suffering a great deal. The ther- 
mometer has risen some, but still averaging between ten 
and fifteen degrees, which is some cold in a tent. My 
feet are frostbitten, and they are bothering me a good 
deal. 

I already have a thousand and one things to do in 
New York. About twelve men have given me addresses 
to go and personally see their people, which, of course, 
will be impossible. I spent last evening with Lieut, and 
Mrs. Willis at their house. It was the first time I really 
got thawed out in ten days. 

I can hardly wait for the 30th. I will have about 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 207 

forty-eight hours straight of work to make it by then, 
and, believe me, I am going to make some drive to do it, 
even if I half kill a half-dozen clerks. I intend to dictate 
my mnster-roll, which I estimate will take about fourteen 
hours. 

Will stop, as it is so infernally cold. 

Kenneth. 

LETTER LXXVI 
Pay Comfs Quicker Than Expected. 

Camp Wads worth, Dec. i8, 19 17. 
Dear Mama: 

We have just been paid. We had to attend to this 
ourselves this month — that is, each company paid by 
company, Lt. Willis and I officiating here. With all the 
allotments, the pay-roll was small this month, only 
amounting to about $3,000. When we finished we were 
$5.50 to the good, which is the proper way to have things 
come out. No one was short, so it is on the Q. M. 

The weather is a little warmer, the snow melting 
some today. I think I will be home some time on the 
31st. 

Kenneth. 

LETTER LXXVII 
There's Many a Slip. 

Camp Wads worth, S. C, Dec. 20, 19 17. 
Dear Mama: 

I cannot get away on the 30th, as I thought I could. 
It is simply impossible, and even if I did manage it, could 



208 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

get only seven days. I think I will be able to leave for 
home on the 4th or 5th of January for ten days. My 
application may not be approved. Furloughs are 
extremely difficult to get for just ordinary reasons. The 
men who are leaving over Christmas and New Year's 
are going under special regulations promulgated for the 
season. So here's hoping. I think it will go through 
O. K. 

I was terribly disappointed when I learned that I 
could not be with you on New Year's day. 

A merry Christmas and my love, 

Ken.:. 

LETTER EXXVIII 
More Men and More Work. 

Camp Wads worth, Dec. 24, 19 17. 
Dear Mother: 

I received the money-order yesterday, and the leg- 
gings and cake today. I don't know any more than I 
did when last I wrote regarding furlough. I am terribly 
busy again, have all kinds of perplexing problems this 
month, and am almost at my wits' end. I have just 
completed my pay-roll, and at the same time received an 
order stating that we would receive five more men on 
Wednesday from the Tenth Inftry. This renders useless 
four days' work. So it goes. 

■ I have been interrupted by the captain, who has just 
arrived from Washington to spend Christmas with us. 
I was never so glad to see anyone. 

The weather is beautiful again, after our long period 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 209 

of cold. The men are out playing ball in their shirts. 
We have our Christmas eve party tonight. I must stop 
and get on with my work. Thanks again for all the 
things. 

Kenneth. 

LETTER LXXIX 
Christmas Presents. 

Machine Gun Company, 107th U. S. Inftry., 

Dec. 26, 19 1 7. 
Dear Mama, Pop and Marj.: 

Mrs. Willis presented me with your package on 
Christmas morning, and, although you had written me 
that you w^ere sending her some socks, I was not pre- 
pared for such a pleasant surprise. The tobacco I 
needed badly, for I have not been able to buy it here, or, 
in fact, any kind that I could enjoy smoking. The cigar- 
ettes were just as welcome as the tobacco, and the same 
with the candy. In fact, it was all most welcome, and I 
think that without a doubt it was the most appreciated 
Christmas present I ever received. 

Otto Raetzer also sent me a hundred cigarettes, and 
Walter has advised me that he has shipped some, and 
B. C. sent me five hundred as well as a dandy toilet set. 
So you see I have been well taken care of. George Slate, 
of Summit, sent me 5,000 cigarettes for the company, 
which I distributed at the party, which was an immense 
success. I will tell you all about it when I get home, 
which I hope will be about the 5th or 6th of January. 

The regiment is involved in another big transfer, and 



210 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

the amount of work is staggering. The pay-roll and 
muster-roll are rendered useless, and I have them to 
make all over at the last minute. 

Thanks again for the things you sent down. 

Ken. 

LETTER LXXX 
A ''Thousand" Things to Do on Furlough. 

Camp Wadsworth, Dec. 28, 191 7. 
Dear Mother: 

Just a short note to let you know that everything is 
fine. I am hoping to get away by the 4th or 5th of 
January, but cannot count on it, and will probably not 
know until the last minute. 

I received a fine box today from the Hewitt Press, 
with cigarettes, tobacco, nuts, candy and a dozen other 
things — Mailliard candy and nuts, etc. 

I am rushed terribly, as usual at ends of months. 
The period of every month between the 2Sth and 30th is 
always like a nightmare to me afterwards. If I get 
home, I have a thousand things to do. I will have to 
spend a little time at the armory, to dig up some records 
we left behind. I will probably also want to go to the 
opera* and to New Haven. There are a lot of things I 
want to buy for the company. Will let you know about 
furlough by wire. 

Ken. 



*The writer was passionately fond of music. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 211 

LETTER LXXXI 

''Nose-Wipes." — More Transfers. 

M. G. Company, 7th N. Y. In f try., Camp Wads worth, 

Spartanburg, S. C, Dec. 29, 1917. 
Dear Walter: 

Your box arrived today. It is hard to express in 
words my appreciation. It could not have been better. 
Your choice and your mother's and L.'s of the things to 
send a man in camp are perfect. Thank you. Have 
portioned it out as per your letter. Made a hog of 
myself and kept the socks and handkerchiefs. The 
handkerchiefs were the things I wanted badly. Our 
English instructors tell us that O. D. *'nose-wipes," as 
they call them, are the only thing in the way of handker- 
chiefs permitted in the trenches; for a red, white or blue 
one, if inadvertently shown above the parapet of a 
trench, is detected immediately by the enemy, and brings 
a fusilade of shots from snipers. The cigars and candy 
are fine, and came in good shape. 

I am, of course, distractedly busy. Have had a tough 
month, with a lot of annoying situations arising. The 
regiment is involved in another big transfer, as a result 
of which we are again up to our authorized strength of 
3,700. Some of the questions relative to the transfer 
are not settled yet. This holds up my muster and also 
the pay-roll until almost the last minute ; then it is a 
nerve-racking ordeal to rush them through and finish 
them on time. A mistake is inexcusable, and dire results 
may be expected to follow if one is so unfortunate as to 
make one. 



212 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

A very nasty snowstorm is driving in from the 
north on a high, cold wind, making things very uncom- 
fortable. My chances of getting home are dubious. I 
had a furlough to leave here tomorrow, but had to give 
it up on account of the work there was to do, and also 
because of the captain's absence. It would have left 
Jun all alone. Hope to get away, if at all, on the 4th or 
5th of January. 

Ken. 

LETTER LXXXII 
Furlough Assured. 

Hotel Cleveland, 
Spartanburg, S. C, Dec. 30, 191 7. 
Dear Mother: 

It seems now to be an assured fact that I will leave 
here on the evening of the 4th. Will get home in any 
event; if not on the 4th, a day or two later. I saw the 
Colonel tonight, and he granted me my furlough 
immediately. 

I came in here for dinner, because I just had to ger 
away from camp, or felt I would go dippy. I always feel 
that way after a long, hard drive, which I have always 
at the end of the month. Expect to be pretty much on 
the go when I get home. Crazy to see you. Should a 
letter come from Capt. Gardner for me, hold it till I 
reach home. 

I am going to try and bring home sugar with me, 
so that you will have enough while I am home. I can 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 213 

buy it for seven cents a pound at the camp O. M., but 
limited to five pounds at a time. 

We are having it bitter cold again ; two degrees below 
zero this morning. 

With love, 

Kenneth. 

LETTER LXXXIII 

The Great Try-Out of Military Training. — 

Watching the Axe Fall. — Experience 

Gives Confidence. 

Camp Wads worth, Jan. i, 191 8. 
Dear Pop: 

Now another check. It is doubtful if I can get home 
after all. I have been selected from the company, along 
with Gadebusch and two other sergeants, to attend the 
officers' training camp opening here on Jan. 5th. So it 
looks as though my chances have gone. I will try and 
get permission to report late. My only chance of get- 
ting through on this will be my record. It will stand 
inspection all right, but whether it is good enough I have 
no w^ay of telling. 

Last month was the weirdest time to me in all my 
experience. Work, work, work, annoyances, exas- 
perations, expectancy, keen disappointment, satisfaction 
and great mental strain all at once, until I feel as though 
I had been drawn through a knothole and then halved, 
quartered and placed on a griddle. Orders issued upon 
orders, rulings changed, one order placed in execution, 
and before its provisions are fairly complied with, it is 



214 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

rescinded. Common sense has gone astray ; such a thing 
seems to haA^e ceased to be. A nervous disposition or a 
head sHghtly off balance means that the one who is so 
unfortunately possessed is going to sink. 

I am sitting here watching them go one by one. And 
some time my chance is coming. There is always a day 
of reckoning, and there must be a balance struck. The 
axe is beginning to fall with a disconcerting disregard of 
rank and precedent. I am convinced that the 27th Divi- 
sion is going to be the best one to go to France, and I 
want the position that will give me the power to play 
my part of assisting in shaping its destinies in one or 
two specific things which I will not put on paper. And 
I shall get it. Every day I see men high in power whom 
I wouldn't have as clerks. And they are beginning to 
shake with apprehension, for, if they are not blind, they 
see the shadow of what is about to fall. We have had 
one explosion that has vibrated through the division to 
its very core, and it is only the first. You probably have 
read of it in the papers. 

Don't worry about me, Pop; I am all right; but I 
must express myself or blow up, like a boiler with no 
safety-valve. The captain is my safety-valve, but he is 
not here. When I get promotion, I shall take it with the 
supreme confidence of the man who has learned by 
experience, who has made mistakes to his own great 
profit, and who has been in a position where he could 
observe and feel the direct effects of grave errors of both 
commission and omission on the part of others. 

We have had another very cold spell, two degrees 
below zero Sunday morning. I have to thaw out my ink 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 215 

every morning before beginning work, and melt ice or 
snow to wash in. My work for the month is all com- 
pleted, and I have spent all New Year's Day in bed 
without getting up for meals. 

I will get home, if at all possible. I sincerely hope 
that you are keeping well, and I certainly never wanted 
to talk to anyone more than I now do to you, Pop. 

Kenneth. 

LETTER LXXXIV 
Back in Camp After Furlough. 

Camp Wads worth, Jan. 13, 19 18. 
Dear Mama and Pop: 

Just a few lines to let you know I am back in camp. 
I arrived shortly after noon today, and immediately 
plunged into work. It is i A. M., so my letter must be 
short. Gadebusch and the captain met me at the depot. 
The captain said he almost wired me to return six differ- 
ent times. Pie has been having a tough time of it. I go 
before Gen. O'Ryan tomorrow, or, I should rather say, 
this morning, for examination. I don't know just what 
my status is, but it does not look as if I would go to 
the school. 

Rob was not at the depot at Charlotte. I don't know, 
of course, what prevented him, but I was very much 
disappointed. 

Kenneth, 



216 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

LETTER LXXXV 

Examination by Gen. O'Ryan. 

Camp Wadsworth, Jan. 15, 19 18. 
Dear Mama and Pop: 

I appeared before Gen. O'Ryan yesterday morning 
at eleven o'clock, and received a grillirig. I came out all 




A Visitor in Camp. Gadebusch, Gow and Walter (the Man in 
Civilian Dress), 

right, and now, as far as I can see, the only thing that 
stands in the way of my commission is my physical 
examination. The eye test worries me a little. I have 
been excused from the officers' training camp, and have 
been directed by the General to report to the division 
machine gun school for officers. I started in this morn- 
ing. Such is my status. 

Received a letter from Rob, saying that he did not 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 217 

receive my telegram until two o'clock Sunday afternoon. 
He is coming to camp on Sunday, and I shall certainly 
be glad to see him. 

Enclosed is a picture of Walter, Gadebusch and 
myself taken in front of my tent just after Walter 
arrived. I have a lot more pictures which I am sending 
by registered mail. 

We are to be inspected by the Asst. Secretary of 
War and the Chief of Staff tomorrow. Ed. Willis left 
for Fort Sill, Oklahoma, today to attend the automatic 
arms school. I, of course, am terribly busy. We had a 
severe storm last night, and as a result the entire camp 
is just a sea of mud. 

Kenneth. 

LETTER LXXXVI 
At the Machine Gun School. 

Camp Wadsworth, Jan. i, 191 8. 
Dear Mama and Pop: 

I am attending the machine gun school every morn- 
ing, and am with the company in the afternoon. In the 
evening I coach the man who will succeed me as first 
sergeant, if I am commissioned. I am not now officially 
first sergeant, but am doing the work of a second lieu- 
tenant. I hope to be able to have dinner with Gaddy 
Saturday night. I saw Eddy for a minute at the train- 
ing camp Monday night, but could not talk to him, or 
any of them, as they have a study period from 7 to 9 
P. M. 

The weather has been beautiful, but walking is almost 



218 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

impossible, owing to the fact that the frost is coming 

out of the ground, and in this clay the walking is terrible. 

Send down my other wool uniform. Better insure 

it, because one like it cannot be bought now. Palmer 

has received his commission in the Ordnance Dept. Am 

very anxious to see Rob. -rz- 

Kenneth. 

LETTER LXXXVII 

Physical Examination Passed. 

Camp Wads worth, Jan. 20, 19 18. 
Dear Mama: 

Rob came to Spartanburg today, arriving at camp 
about 9 A. M. Gaddy and I saw him off on the 6.45 
tonight. You can guess how glad I was to see him. He 
told me of Pop's bad fall. I was worried about just 
that thing, the danger of one of you falling on the ice- 
covered roads. It is very upsetting to hear of him being 
hurt, especially when I know so little about it. 

I was ordered over to division headquarters for my 
physical examination Saturday, and passed O. K, If I 
am commissioned, of course I will need a lot of things at 
once. I cannot get a uniform for less than $55 or $60, 
and will need a lot of stuff besides. Prices of things are 
terrible, and then the quality is far from satisfactory. 

Jan. 22. 

Weather is cold. Have been in court all day, called 
as a witness against a man from the company who 
deserted, and was caught last month. He is being tried 
by a general court martial. Sent two pieces of music to 
M., compositions of our band master.* 

Kenneth. 



Band Leader Laurence Mansfield Matt. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 219 

LETTER LXXXVIII 
With the Machine Guns on the Range. 

Camp Wads worth, Jan. 24, 19 18. 
Dear Mania: 

I am dead tired, so this letter will be short. I went 
out on the range with our guns this afternoon. We had 
Colts, Benet-Merciers and the Lewis all working together. 
We now have sixteen guns in the company. We worked 




Gas Mask Class. 

hard all morning getting them in shape and inspecting, 
preparatory to the firing in the afternoon. It is hard 
work and quite a strain with a lot of new men who have 
not even heard a machine gun fired before. There was 
some very accurate shooting. A week from today we 
go into the trenches for four days, and will be subjected 



220 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

to a series of gas attacks. Chlorine gas will be used. So 
you see we are getting along. 

Enclosed are some more pictures. I have marked 
them on the back. I am doing practically no first ser- 
geant's work, except in an advisory capacity. 

Kenneth. 

LETTER LXXXIX 
Commissioned in the Old ''Seventh" Way. 

Camp Wadsworth, Jan. 27, 19 18. 
Dear Mama: 

I have been commissioned a second lieutenant, and 
will be assigned to the 107th Inftry., and to duty with 
the Machine Gun Co. I appeared at retreat tonight with 
my shoulder-bars, collar insignia and black-and-gold hat- 
cord. I cannot begin to express in words the satisfac- 
tion that I feel in being commissioned in my own 
regiment in the old Seventh way. The Colonel and all 
of our old officers enlisted as privates. I received the 
notification from the Adjutant-General of the army this 
morning, and was sworn in this afternoon, and am now 
living at the head of the company street with Lt. Harry. 
Write and send your approbation, without which my 
promotion would be hollow. 

Kenneth. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 221 

LETTER XC 

Getting Equipped as an Officer. — Confinement to 

Camp by Quarantine and Impassable Roads. — 

A ''Seventh" Welcome to the New 

Officer. 

Camp Wadsworth, Jan. 29, 19 18. 
Dear Pop: 

Your telegram received yesterday, and your more 
than welcome letter came tonight. Am delighted to hear 
that your knee is improving, and most sincerely hope 
your complete recovery will be sure. 

My uniform has arrived in good shape and has been 
duly turned in and credit given me for it. My overcoat 
I am keeping, having it charged against me on my final 
statement. It will cost me $12.50, and I am spending 
another $9 on it for alterations, which are necessary to 
convert it into an officer's coat. Thus I get a coat for 
$21.50 which cannot be bought for any price now, and 
which a New York firm charges $110 for, and not near 
as good a piece of cloth at that. The thing:s which I 
need are appalling. I may have to ask for some more 
money before the end of the month, but will do the best 
I can with what I have. I have ordered a serge uniform, 
price $60. I am buying the best I can get, for it is the 
cheapest in the long run. Some of the officers bought a 
lot of stuff as cheap as they could, with the result that 
it has gone to pieces. I think that I will get one cheap 
uniform to knock around in, about $18.50. There is a 
imiform made of some new goods called Funston cloth, 
which looks like cotton and seems to wear verv well. 



222 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

We have had almost a fuh week's rain, with very 
warm, spring-Hke weather. I had inever imagined such 
mud, eight inches to three feet deep ; in some places very 
heavy, and in others just like soup. Spartanburg has 
been quarantined on account of spinal meningitis, and 
no man is allowed out of camp. Officers are excepted, 
provided they have good reasons for going in, such as 
shave-tail lieutenants, or minnows, as they are called by 
their seniors, buying themselves outfits. The town is 
absolutely cut off from camp by road anyway, as the 
roads are altogether impassable, so it doesn't make any 
difference about the quarantine. 

I entered immediately upon my duties as lieutenant. 
The other officers, from the top down, have been exceed- 
ingly cordial, and they welcomed me on my first appear- 
ance at the mess in true Seventh fashion. I was sur- 
prised at the number who knew me by name and came to 
congratulate me. I was very soon presented with a bill 
for my next month's mess assessment, and was invited to 
contribute towards a fund to provide a wedding present. 
So you see I have started. 

Drill outside is impossible, and the trenches are 
untenable. We will resume our machine-gun firing as 
soon as the rain stops, I think I told you that we had 
the Lewis, Benet-Mercier and Colt machine guns all out 
on the firing-line and agoing. I have fired all of them 
personally, and have the Colts under my own supervi- 
sion and am instructing in their use. They are all of the 
heavy type, and we will be armed with a similar weapon. 

Enclosed is my order of assignment. Send me my 
raincoat, as I can use it for a while until I get a regula- 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 223 

tion slicker. I understand that Rob's camp (Camp 
Greene), is quarantined for the same reason that Spar- 
tanburg is. 

My commission has nothing to do with the machine 
gun school, which is exclusively for the machine gun 
officers of the division, and which I attended as an 
enlisted man until my commission came through, by the 
direct command of the Major-General, because of the 
fact that I was to be recommended for a commission. 
At the same time he excused me from the officers' train- 
ing camp. I have secured my promotion in the only way 
that I wanted it, and it seems too good to be true. Mr. 
Gadebusch wired his congratulations. 

The Captain asked me to remember him to you, 
and he expressed his sympathy. Hoping that you will 
get into shape again quickly. 

Kenneth. 

LETTER XCI 

M. G. Co., 107th U. S. Inftry., Camp Wadsworth, 
Spartanburg, S. C, Jan. 29, 1918. 
Dear Walter: 

Your welcome and interesting letter received. This 
is just a line to let you know of my commission. I was 
appointed a second lieutenant Sunday. The order was 
issued by the Adjutant-General of the army from Wash- 
ington on the 26th. I received my notification on the 
27th at II A. M. Telegraphed acceptance at 11.45 
A. M., and was sworn in at 4.20 P. M., thereby becoming 
a full-fledged second lieutenant, or, as my seniors call 
me, a shave-tail. This was speeding things up to the 



224 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

limit. I cannot express in words, Walter, the satisfac- 
tion to me of being commissioned from the ranks in 
just the wa}^ that I had dreamed of for so long. It was 
the only way I wanted the appointment, and it seems too 
good to be true. I entered on my duties at once. 

It has rained for almost a week straight, and I have 
never seen so much mud, eight inches to three feet deep. 
We are cut off from Spartanburg completely by road. 
The roads are impassable; the trenches are untenable. 
The weather has been exceedingly warm and spring-like, 
bringing the frost out of the ground. I never dreamed 
there could be so much mud. It is so bad that we do not 
have retreat formation, and do all our drilling inside. 

Am going to fire on the range as soon as weather will 
permit. Have sixteen guns now. Had Lewises, Benet- 
Merciers and Colts out on the firing line last week, and 
all agoing together. Some music! The Colts are my 
particular responsibility; have charge of them for 
instruction, etc. 

Kenneth. 

LETTER XCII 
Mostly Financial. 

Camp Wads worth, Jan. 31, 19 18. 
Dear Mama, Pop and Marj.: 

I am glad M. likes my friend Mr. Matt's music. 
He is an excellent band leader. To date I have 
ordered one serge uniform, $60; bought one pair 
of shoes, $7; one pair of leggings, $16; one Funston 
cloth uniform, $18.50; two suits underwear, $2.60; one 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 225 

set collar ornaments, $1.65; one hat, $5; $9 to have 
coat altered; total, $119.75. I will receive no pay until 
the end of the next month, and get hardly anything on 
my final statement, as allotment insurance and $12.50 
for my overcoat comes out, so will need some more 
money. I also have mess assessment to pay. It is 
terrible getting started.* I have sweater, bed-roll, 
blankets, more shoes, etc., etc., to get, and the prices 
of everything are sky high. My cap is of no use 
to me, as it cannot be converted into an officer's cap, so 
do not send it. I need my raincoat badly, with this ever- 
lasting rain and sleet. The natives say that, in a normal 
season, February brings always a continual rainstorm. 

Enclosed are one or two more orders affecting me 
which I should like inserted in my scrap-book. Mama 
will be interested to note that I was promoted on the 
same order with Griswold Daniell, who was promoted 
from second to first lieutenant. He is the only one of 
the family left in the regiment. The other brother was 
promoted some time ago and assigned to the National 
Army as an instructor, and the father was discharged, 1 
think, before we went to the Border. 

I am tremendously busy ; drill and school all day and 
lectures at night. I may be sent to Fort Sill, Okla., to 
the machine gun school. The captain sent my name in, 
but I may not be picked, owing to seniority of others. 
Only five men of the division will go, so you can easily 
see what my chances are. 

With my best, 

Kenneth. 



* Officers have to furnish their own_ outfits, and an enlisted man, on promotion, 
has to turn in the clothing supplied him by the Government. 



226 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

LETTER XCIII 

''Gassed" as Part of Training. 

Camp Wads worth, Feb. i, 191 8. 
Dear Mama: 

Enclosed is my discharge from the U. S. Army, 
which please keep. I made out my own discharge. My 
commission is not in the U. S. Reserve, but in the U. S. 
Army, so don't worry on that score; and don't worry 
about what an officer has or has not to do. I already 
have a dog-robber, or, as they are semi-officially desig- 
nated, a striker; in other words, a servant. It is not 
compulsory, of course, but is absolutely necessary, and 
an unwritten law in the regiment. He costs me $5 per 
month, and he carries my water, shines my shoes, makes 
my bed, airs the blankets, brushes my clothes, etc., etc. 

I have reason to believe that a move is imminent. 
I will not be near home again, as we will not go as I told 
you. 

We were "gassed" this afternoon. We passed 

through the gas chambers, equipped, of course, with 

masks. Chlorine gas and lachrimatory gas were used. 

Chlorine is terrible stuff. It chokes to death, breaks 

down the tissues of the lungs, also the blood-vessels, and 

if the victim recovers, consumption generally sets in. 

We were in this gas for about ten minutes. The gas 

masks are great things, and a positive preventive against 

being ''gassed." We took the lachrimatory plain. Its 

effect is practically all on the eyes — makes one blind for a 

while, and causes a very painful irritation of the eyes. 

With love, 

Kenneth. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



227 



LETTER XCIV 

Tested Out at the Range. — Officers Working 
Very Hard. 

Camp Wadsworth, Feb. 8, 19 18. 
Dear Pop: 

Am so busy there seems hardly time to think. . . . 
We are now having a beautiful spell of warm weather. 
The thermometer is about 75 deg. The men are all drill- 
ing in their 
shirts. I took 
my platoon 
with four ma- 
chine guns to 
the range yes- 
terday. It is 
part of an offi- 
cer's training at 
the school. I 




Lt. Gow Range-Finding 



was as nervous 
as a cat, as I, 
of course, had never been responsible for the direction 
of fire, control, target designation and discipline of men 
on the firing-line before. However, the platoon got a 
score of 270 out of a possible 320, and I was rated 
''excellent'' in conduct of fire, fire control and squad 
discipline, three different counts, and the first ''excellent" 
rating received by any officer. The machine gun officers 
of the 105th, 1 06th and loSth In f try. and the 104th 
Machine Gun Battalion had preceded me. On operation 
I got a "very good," and received the same on my fire 



228 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

orders on a landscape target which none of us had ever 
seen before, and which was put up behind our backs; 
the point being that I had to turn around, look at it, 
get my gun crews on their guns, figure the range, 
which was unknown, designate the guns which were to 
cover the right and those to cover the enemy left, 
so that my fire would cross, and to allot to each gunner his 
sector. You see, a target of this kind must be traversed 
with a crossed fire. I opened fire in 10.5 seconds, 
being the first, but missed out on an ''excellent" rating 
owing to the platoon's fire direction. 

I have thirty-two animals to oversee. They are 
my responsibility ; in other words, I am boss of the picket- 
line. Tmust also look over the first sergeant's work, to 
see that he is going all right, until he is thoroughly 
familiar with his work. I have too much to do and too 
much responsibility over too widely-scattered departments 
of the company. I have never felt this way before. I 
am going to kick to the Captain for a readjustment. We 
are short an officer- — two, in fact, for one we have is 
valueless. I have all the physical drill to give the com- 
pany, also. Lt. Harry is just as busy, and the captain has 
to spend a great deal of time at the division machine gun 
school, of which he is executive officer. 

Can you send me $60 more ? This ought to pull me 
through until pay day. It costs me $30 a month to eat at 
the regimental mess, and it must be paid ahead. 

Kenneth. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 229 

LETTER XCV 

A New Horse and an Exciting Ride. — The First 

Member of the Old M. G. Co. Gives His Life 

IN Battle. 

Camp Wads worth, Feb. lo, 19 18. 
Dear Marj.: 

Just a few lines, as I have an hour before retreat. 
We are having a perfectly wonderful spell of weather. 
I am sitting outside my tent door in my shirt and with no 
hat. The thermometer today was 80 deg. I have just 
returned from a long and rather exciting ride with the 
Captain. We have started our rides again. As soon as 
the weather gets fine we both head for the picket-line and 
our horses. I have a new horse, one that was assigned 
to the regiment for an officer's use, and he is a beauty. 

Today we had ridden for about an hour and a half, 
when we came to a long, straight piece of dirt road 
which was dry. The Captain said: ''Shall we let them 
go?" I said, *'Yes," and away we went. We covered 
about a mile and a half, and the horses were beginning to 
blow, when the Captain's horse went into a soft spot 
and they both went down in a heap. The horse rolled 
right on the Captain, and I thought sure that he was a 
goner. A fall from a horse on a dead gallop is a serious 
thing. The horse was frightened, of course, and started 
off full tilt. The Captain wasn't hurt, so I took after his 
horse. At first he stuck to the road, but soon left it for 
cotton-fields, corn-fields, woods and every other kind of 
landscape, at a full gallop. I chased him for over three 
miles before I caught him. 



230 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



The enclosed clipping please keep among my papers 
and pictures. It was quite a shock to me when I first 
heard the news last night. Billy Tailer* was one of the 
finest men I ever met, and died in a way we would 
expect of him. He is the first of our old company 
to pass on. It brings home with a smash the fact that we 

have men at the front. 
Billy's father died only 
last month, and it is 
harder therefore for his 
mother and sister. The 
Captain and I are writ- 
ing them. It just seems 
a crime that a man who 
has everything in the 
world to live for should 
suddenly be snuffed out 
like a burning candle. 
The picture (in the news- 
paper) is wretched, and 
even I wouldn't recog- 
nize it for Billy. The 
paper is wrong as regards 
his rank. He was a first 
lieutenant, a pilot in Pershing's forces, having been trans- 
ferred from the Cigognes (the Storks). 

There is a prospect of Gaddy being commissioned 
soon and assigned to this company. The Captain is 
working for it hard. We have one vacancy. It will be 
great if this can be accomplished. 

Hoping you are all well, Ken. 

* Lt. William Hallett Tailer, killed while fighting the Germans in France 
in an aeroplane. 



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LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 231 

LETTER XCVI 

Mimic Trench Warfare as Carried Out at Camp 
Wads WORTH. 

Camp Wads worth, Feb. i6, 1918. 
Dear Mama and Pop : 

We came out of the trenches this morning at 9 A. M., 
where we had been since 8 A. M. Tuesday, four days. 
It rained most of the time during our entire tour of duty, 
giving us a most reaHstic idea of what conditions are 
abroad when it is wet. I had my headquarters located in 
a dugout thirty-five feet underneath the ground, in what 
is termed a supervision trench, which is generally the 
fourth or fifth trench from the front line, and is situ- 
ated in front of the reserve trenches and just back of the 
support trenches. The dugout filled with about two feet 
of water the second day, and stayed that way until we 
were relieved by the incoming battalion this morning. 
We were absolutely plastered with mud, and of course 
the men were soaked continuously. The game was played 
fair all the way through: no talking in the front line, no 
smoking except in shelters and dugouts, and not a head 
sticking up over the parapets in the daytime. 

I had command of four guns on the front line of 
what is termed the south sector. The company head- 
quarters, with Capt. Gardner, were situated in a dugout 
in the rear almost a mile away from me. Our three 
platoons, with twelve guns, were scattered over the entire 
trench zone, and we were all connected up by telephone 
and buzzer. It is all very wonderful. I had one sergeant, 
one corporal and five orderlies in my headquarters. Our 



232 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

headquarters men are specially trained for the job. They 
are all expert signalmen, runners, buzzer and telegraph 
men. We were gas-shelled several times by the ''enemy," 
and had one night attack, the same occurring at 1.05 
A. M., Thursday morning. It was adjudged a failure, 
owing to the fact that Sergt. Roger Jones was right on 
the job and mowed the ''enemy" down in windrows with 
his machine gun while they were cutting through our 
wire entanglements. 

We had an elaborate system of gas alarms all over 
the entire trench area, bells, iron bars suspended at inter- 
vals, etc. As soon as a man smelt gas, or if a cloud gas 
was used, as soon as he saw it coming, he would immedi- 
ately put on his own mask and then give the alarm by 
beating on the suspended bar, can or bell. This would 
be taken up all over the entire sector; and if the attack 
was discovered to be general, this fact was telephoned to 
headquarters. In dugouts the alarm is given by placing 
a pail full of iron plates, tin cans or other such things at 
the head of the steps leading down. A sentinel is always 
on duty at this doorway, and as soon as he hears the 

alarm he kicks the pail down the steps, making a h 

of a racket, thereby communicating the alarm to those 
within, who get into their masks immediately and come 
out of the dugout as quick as the Lord will let them, 
for dugouts are not gas-proof, although curtains with a 
chemical mixture on them are hung over the entrances. 

We had our dressing stations (medical corps) system- 
atized, etc., etc. This gas alarm system is what the Eng- 
lish and French use abroad. I would like to tell you all 
about it, but cannot, for I am dog tired, and would have 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 233 

to write all night. I have had no sleep in the last forty- 
eight hours. The experience was most instructive and 
interesting, in spite of the water and two feet deep mud. 
The men actually looked as if they had rolled in it, as in 
many cases they did, for they lay right in the bottom of 
the trench in the mud and water and slept. It is wonder- 
ful how an exhausted man will sleep. 

We dug and fought at night. The "enemy" were 
about 500 men situated in an opposing set of trenches. 
We had only about 2,500 in the sector this time, and we 
were the only M. G. Co. 

I hope you can get down here before long. 

Kenneth. 

LETTER XCVII 

Expense of an Officer's Outfit. — A Scarcity of 

Officers in the Company. — Tpie Horses and 

Mules. 

Camp Wadsworth, Feb. 20, 19 18. 
Dear M. and P. 

I received the fudge, which is fine. . . . My house is 
just about completed. It is built on specifications of my 
own, and is therefore just as I want it. I sent two men 
into town today to bring out the door and sash and my 
electric lights, and it has taken about all the money I 
had left. Will you send me $25 more? We will be paid 
about the 5th or 6th of the month, and I will be all right 
then. A second lieutenant just commissioned has an 
awful time, for his salary does not begin to equip him, 
particularly in a M. G. Co., for six months at least. I 



234 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



will have to get a pair of what is known as the EE type 
of prism field glasses, with the mil scale and inverted 
musketry sight engraved on one of the prisms. This is 
one of the instruments with which we figure our ranges. 
They cost wholesale from the Gov. $50, and retail some- 
where in the neighborhood of $125. I will also have to 

get a prismatic compass, a 
graticule and a chronometer, 
all very delicate instruments 
used in figuring range data 
for indirect fire; that is, 
when the target cannot be 
seen. These things I w^ill 
liave to acquire gradually. 
I have not yet bought any 
blankets, cot, pack, belt 
equipment or anything of 
that sort. 

A bill has been introduced 
in Congress providing for 
the selling of all clothing 
and equipment to officers of 
the army at cost.* We now 
have over 100,000 officers 
in the army, and they 
have spent easily on an average $300 per man 
for equipment. Men being commissioned now have 
to pay about $500 for a complete outfit. About $300 of 
this is nothing but rank profit earned by private concerns 
and individuals by charging officers exorbitant prices. 
The officer has been commissioned and then turned loose 




2d Lt. Gow and his House 
AT Camp Wadsworth 



This bill was passed. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 235 

to provide for himself on an inadequate salary. Now 
the War Department is beginning to realize the handicap 
this is to newly-commissioned men. You are expected to 
set an example to the enlisted personnel by your appear- 
ance, and an ill-clothed officer comes in for some severe 
censuring. So there we are. I don't dare discuss it in the 
terms I should like to use, and have already written more 
than I should. 

I am busier than I ever was as first sergeant. It is 
getting more and more difficult to get an hour for myself. 
Capt. Gardner and I are now here all alone doing six 
men's work. We should have six officers, and that would 
not be enough. The weather is very wet, with occasional 
warm and clear days, the ground very muddy. In fact, all 
the days are warm, and the grass is as green as it is at 
home in April. 

We have our full quota of mules and horses now, and 
it is one of my duties to instruct in their care, and in the 
packing and care of pack equipment. I just seemed to 
naturally gravitate into this work. As a matter of fact, 
though, no one else is ciualified to do it except the Captain, 
and he, of course, cannot do everything. 

The c[uarantine on Spartanburg has been lifted. I 
hope to be able to tell you that Gadebusch has been com- 
missioned in this company in a few days, or, at the furth- 
est, in two weeks. If it goes through, it will be a fine 
thing for the company, and to me personally a source of 
great satisfaction. 

It is almost ten o'clock, and I have to get to bed or I 



236 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



shall be dead. The company goes on guard Sunday and 

I will be officer of the guard, a twenty- four hours' tour 

of duty. 

Hope you are all well, 

Kenneth. 

LETTER XCVIII 

Canadian Instructors Liked. — French Instructors 

Liked and Admired. — English Instructors 

Antagonize Men. 

Camp Wadsworth, 
Spartanburg, S. C, 
Feb. 26, 1918. 
Dear Mama: 

Enclosed is my commission, 
which is not a very inspir- 
ing thing to look at, but is 
precious nevertheless. I am 
supposed to keep it in my pos- 
session always, but that is 
not practicable, so am sending 
it home for safe keeping. 

We are just as busy as ever. 

Lt. Harry came back today. 

This will make things a little 

easier for me. It has been 

quite a strain on the Captain 

and I, so much work. Lt. 

Willis will be back in about ten days, and we hope to 

have another officer in a little while, as I told you in my 

last letter. 





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IN Camp Wadsworth He 

Shared with Lt. Gow 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 237 

The weather is ideal. We are working at present on a 
machine gun precision drill, which is being taught by a 
Canadian sergeant* who went through the entire Vimy 
Ridge engagement, and is most interesting. We have 
about fifteen Canadians iii camp now as instructors. 
There is a growing resentment against the Englishmen 
who are here, except Sergt. -Major Tector, who instructed 
in the bayonet class. Their attitude is intolerable, and 
they antagonize us. They are overbearing, and there is 
only one way which is right — their way. I can easily 
see how hard feeling crops up between the English and 
other nationalities.! When on the other side the men 
all hope we will go in with the French. Our real 
instruction is coming from the French officers here. 
They are considerate, polite, will always take suggestions, 
and are everlastingly efficient, both officers and non-coms. 

I moved into my new house tonight. It is the best 

in the company street. Al Harry is in with me, which 

makes it very fine. 

Love to all. 

Ken. 

LETTER XCIX 

Officers Have to Pay Income Tax. — Driving Hard 
IN Training Work. 

Camp Wads worth. Mar. i, 19 18. 
Dear Pop : 

Your letter with check received. Thanks ever so 
much. I was certainly glad to receive it, as I had but 

* Sergt. Henderson, 
t This feeling changed afterwards. See Letter CXLIX. 



238 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

$4.13 left and a $14 mess assessment staring me in the 
face. 

I received a letter from Mr. C. I. Hood, with two 
pairs of socks and fifteen boxes of ointment. The latter 
made me smile. Rob, I believe, got the same. I have 
written Mr. Hood a letter of thanks, and have also told 
him a little about our work and the camp. 

I have also received a letter from one of the men we 
transferred to the 69th Inftry.* He was on the Border 
with us. His letter is very interesting, and informative 
to the extent that they are getting just the training that 
we are here, with the exception that they have had no 
experience with real gas. In this we are ahead of them. 

The weather continues beautiful — real spring, with 
the thermometer varying between 75 deg. and 85 deg. As 
a result, the training schedule is progressing rapidly. I 
now have income tax to pay, and have the form in front 
of me. I must turn it in during the next day or two. An 
officer gets it in the neck every way he turns. 

I must close and get to bed, as we are driving hard 
these days — actual drill from 7.45 A. M. to 5.15 P. M., 
and lecture and class work until about 9 P. M. I am 
dead tired and just ready to flop into bed when we are 
through. Kenneth. 

* About 350 men were transferred from the 7th to the 69th before the former 
was sent to Camp Wadsworth. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



239 



LETTER C 

The Company Loses Its Captain at Last.- 
Training Period in Sight. 



-End of 



Camp Wadsworth, Mar. 6, 1918. 
Dear Mama: 

Enclosed are some pictures for my collection. They 
are very interesting, especially the one in which the 
Erench officers appear. This was taken during our last 
tour of trench 
duty. We were 
out on the top 
studying the 
ground and re- 
laying the ma- 
chine gun posi- 
tions. You can 
identify me by 
a white hat- 
band. These 
are worn by all 
machine gun- 
ners to differ- 
entiate them 
from infantry, signal corps, engineers, grenadiers, bom- 
bers, automatic riflemen and all the other special units 
which go to the making of a modern battalion. 

Capt. Gardner has been taken from us, transferred to 
the io6th M. G. Battalion. We all feel too sick over it 
to even talk about it. It came like lightning out of a 
clear sky, and has left us more or less stunned. There is 




A Consultation with French Officers, 
Instructors 

Capt. Michiel, Lt. Gow, Capt. Borde, Capt. Ver- 
sayier, Gen. Lester, Major Sherman (left to right). 



240 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

no use of my writing how I feel about it. You can under- 
stand, in the first place; and in the second place I don't 
feel like discussing it. Capt. Gardner is a man who 
by his personality so dominates everyone that he comes 
into contact with, that his going has left a gap which it 
seems impossible to fill. 

Lt. Willis gets back tonight, and will probably report 
tomorrow. We go on guard again tomorrow, and on 
Saturday I have to report to the Quartermaster of the 
camp with a detail of 150 men picked from the regiment, 
to take up some work in that department. It will prob- 
ably take Saturday and Sunday. So it goes. Whenever 
they want something done which must be done well they 
come to the M. G. Co. for it. It is not fair^ for we have 
more than we can do ourselves, without having to take 
care of so many other things. We are not supposed to 
get guard duty at all ; but with over half the regiment at 
the range, we have to take our turn. 

We will be just two months more in this country. 
Cannot you all arrange to get down here, say, in April? 
That is the limit of time. I don't believe that I shall get 
home again. The port we leave from I must not tell you, 
nor our destination, but you can guess. 

Must stop and study, for we have a formal guard 
mount tomorrow when we go on guard, a very intricate 
and impressive ceremony. 

With love. 

Ken. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 241 

LETTER CI 
Military Orders Disregard Sentiment. 

Camp Wadsworth, Mar. ii, 1918. 
Dear Mama: 

Just a few hurried lines. Our new captain reported 
tonight. If Capt, Gardner stays with the io6th M. G. 
Btn., I probably will be transferred over to that organiza- 
tion. The Captain builds up the most efficient Machine 
Gun Co. in the division and then is suddenly yanked 
away from the head of it. There is no sentiment or 
consideration in military orders. They are harsh and 
abrupt. 

Have you the illustrated section of the Times of Mar. 
loth? There are a lot of pictures of the division in it. 
If you haven't, I will send it on to be added to my col- 
lection. I hope M. will be able to fix them all up some 
time. 

I went on again as officer of the guard on Thursday. 
I was up for thirty-six continuous hours, then attended 
a lecture, after which I worked until 12.30 that night 
(Friday), and on Saturday I took a detail of 150 men on 
an all-day job at the Q. M. C, attended another lecture 
when I got back, and finally turned in so tired I could 
not sleep. I had command of the company over Sunday, 
as Lts. Willis and Harry were away. 
With love, 

Kenneth, 



242 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

LETTER CII 
Looking Forward to a Visit From His Family. 

Camp Wadsworth, Mar. 15-19, 1918. 
Dear Pop: 

I have managed to reserve rooms for you. Make 
your plans to come on the 29th. . . . The shrubs, violets 
and other flowers are in full bloom, the peach-blossom 
beautiful. I will have hundreds of interesting things to 
show you, if I can get the time. 

I have been placed in absolute charge of the physical 
and bayonet training of all the machine gun companies 
and battalions in the division, a total of 2,752 men. It is 
a big responsibility. 

I am most anxious to see you all. Are you going to 
stop at Charlotte? If Rob could arrange to get away 
for a few days and be with us, the family would all be 
together again.* 

You ought to try and run down to Charleston. It is 
one of the most interesting cities in the country, men who 
have been there tell me. I want to go, but I guess I 
never will have the time. 

I shall be unable to write again until Sunday, as we 
go into the trenches tomorrow morning, to remain until 
then. If you come on the 29th, you will be here over 
Easter Sunday, which will be fine. The fact that we go 
into the trenches now makes it more or less certain that 
I will have nothing except my divisional work on when 
you get here. 

* This did eventually come about, and on Easter Sunday, in the hospitable 
home of Mr. W. S. Glenn, a resident of Spartanburg, the entire family for the 
last time sat down together at dinner. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 243 

Am very busy, but feeling all right again. Capt. 
Whitney* made me stay in bed one whole day, and I did 
nothing but sleep, and that fixed me up. It is raining, and 
we will have a wet, muddy time in the trenches. 

Ken. 

LETTER cm 
Forty Feet Underground. 

Camp Wadsworth, Mar. 21, 19 18. 
Dear Pop: 

I received your card tonight while in the trenches. I 
sure am glad you all have made arrangements to come 
down. I will go in to Spartanburg Sunday night when 
we get out of these trenches and see if the Cleveland has 
definitely held rooms for you. Go to the Cleveland on 
arrival on the 29th and ask for the rooms which have 
been reserved in the name of Thomas O'Shea. 

Am now forty feet underground in my dugout head- 
quarters. It rained hard yesterday, making the trenches 
very disagreeable, but today the wind boxed the compass 
clockwise and came up fresh from the northwest, assur- 
ing us of clear weather. 

Bring money enough to buy me about two good meals. 

Kenneth. 

* Capt. Whitney was put in command of the company after the transfer of 
Capt. Gardner. 



244 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



LETTER CIV 

The Advantage of Buying from the Govt. — Square 

AND Cube Root. — A Hike in the Woods. — 

Prefers Field Work to Office Work. 

Camp Wadsworth, 

Apr. 3, 1918. 

Dear Mother and Pop: 

I hope you are now home 
again safe and sound. Will look 
for a letter from Charleston to- 
morrow. We go to the range for 
two days tomorrow, come back 
on Saturday and go up again for 
ten days on Tuesday. Al and I 
went to the Ordnance Dept. this 
afternoon. I bought two blankets 
and a canvas bucket, also a pair of 
shoes. The blankets cost $6 
apiece, the bucket $1.68 and the 
shoes $4.75. Blankets in town 
are $13.75 ^^^ shoes $7 a pair. 
Quite a difference! 

Apr. 6. 

Your letters and arithmetic 

from Charleston received. The 

arithmetic is just what Al and I 

wanted, and we think that we 

can now pass the examination and find the square or 

cube root of a number by the simple method and by the 

use of logarithms. 




Lt. Kenneth Gow, 
Camp Wadsworth 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 245 

We leave for the range for ten days' shooting on 
Tuesday. The range is in the heart of the Blue Ridge 
mountains, and every one who has been there says it is 
a perfect paradise for beauty. 

I took the company for a long hike yesterday, and 
we stuck to the woods. They are very beautiful. I have 
never seen such large dogwood blossoms and violets as in 
South Carolina. We found a great patch of yellow jas- 
mine, which is very rare. It is very fragrant, and will 
run to the top of an eighty-foot pine tree. 

Our brigade paraded in Spartanburg this afternoon 
in the interest of the Third Liberty Loan. The men 
carried full packs and paraded with fixed bayonets. They 
looked fine and fit. I am in command of the company 
until Monday morning. 

Did you see Rob's camp? If so, tell me what your 
impressions of Camp Greene are. To the uninitiated eye, 
all the camps look identical. 

Capt. Gardner came in, and stayed until 11.30, so I 
got no further with above. He wants me to consent to a 
transfer to the 105th M. G. Battalion, of which he is to 
be major, as battalion adjutant. It would carry with 
it promotion, the grade of first lieutenant. I don't believe 
I want it. I do not care to leave field work and take up 
administration work, for there is nothing greater than 
the handling and training of men, and the consciousness 
that, if they are good, you have had your part in making 
them so. 

It is a miserable wet day, with a northeast storm. I 
hope it gets thoroughly rained out before we start for the 
range, and hoping you are all well after your trip South, 

Kenneth. 



246 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

LETTER CV 
"You Know Me, Al" Coming to New York. 

Camp Wads worth, Apr. 9, 19 18. 
Dear Mother: 

Just a few hurried lines before we leave for the range. 
Our show, ''You Know Me, Al," will open either next 
week or the week following with the same cast as we had 
here. Tell Walter about it, and tell him I won't forgive 
him if he doesn't get Otto or somebody and go — or take 
the family. 

It has rained for three days, and the roads are bot- 
tomless. Still raining, and we start in about half an hour. 
Have seventeen miles to make today. 

Don't forget about the show. 

Ken, 

LETTER CVI 
On the Range. 

Glassy Rock, S. C, Apr. 12, 1918. 
Dear Pop: 

We left camp Tuesday morning, and after three days' 
hard going in almost continual rain arrived here yester- 
day noon. The weather is extremely disagreeable, wet, 
and very cold as we got higher in the mountains, a climb 
of about 2,000 feet in about thirty- three miles. It is 
partially clear today. The country is beautiful, the 
mountain-sides covered with blooming dogwood, azalea 
and laurel. 

I spent all of today on the automatics range. The 




Glassy Rock Mquntain, S. C. 



248 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

Government has an enormous reservation here in the 
mountains. Artillery, infantry and machine guns can 
just go ahead and fire as they please and not be afraid of 
hitting anything. Barrage problems on a large scale are 
being worked out every day. The infantry varies from 
one regiment to a brigade, and artillery and machine 
guns are used to an unlimited extent. You never heard 
such a noise. The artillery are so far back that their 
noise does not disturb us much. Their fire falls about 
seventy- five to one hundred yards ahead of the first 
infantry skirmish line. The work is very absorbing. 

Let me know about the divisional show in New York. 
The mail is disarranged owing to our duty here. This 
spot is very difficult to get to, and there has been a hitch 
somewhere in the mails. 

Kenneth. 

LETTER CVII 
A Real Barrage Drill. 

Glassy Rock, Apr. 13, 1918. 
Dear Pop and Mama: 

Received your letter of the 8th today. The machine 
gun regiment of which our company are part left this 
camp to take part in a big artillery barrage problem. The 
company was under my command, the other officers hav- 
ing been through the barrage last week. In the lower 
valley we met the 107th, which came up to take part in 
the problem. They brought our mail, which I collected 
on the way back this afternoon. 

Aiy experience today has been the most thrilling thing 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 249 

of my life. I wish I had time to tell you all about it. 
We pulled into position before a network of trenches at 
1.45 P. M. The regiment (the 107th) was in wave 
formation in front of us. The ist Battalion dropped 
into a trench, and the 2d and 3d Battalions were about 
fifty yards to the rear of it with us. The zero hour was 
2.20, and at 2.20 to the second there was a great shrieking 
directly over our heads, and the shells commenced drop- 
ping just about fifty yards in front of the trench occupied 
by the ist Battalion of the 107th, and about one hundred 
yards in front of us, which is d d close. This con- 
tinued for five minutes, the shells dropping so fast that 
the explosions made one continuous roar. Forty-eight 
guns were firing on a front of only 500 yards. Precisely 
at 2.25 the infantry jumped out of the trenches and 
started their advance. They got to within thirty yards of 
the bursting shells when the barrage was suddenly lifted 
to one hundred yards. The advance continued until the 
first wave was about thirty yards behind where the shells 
burst, when the barrage was again lifted and dropped 
behind the ''enemy" trenches, and the infantry then occu- 
pied their objective. Shrapnel shells were used. It was 
the most marvellous, miraculous and impressive thing I 
ever witnessed. The deadly accuracy of the artillery was 
wonderful. The guns were four miles away from us, 
and had to fire over two mountain ranges at a target 
they could not see. A slight mistake would have meant 
death to dozens of us. 

The regiment looked worth a million dollars. Its 
discipline was perfect, and it advanced right up to the 
barrage as steady as seasoned veterans in lines as straight 



250 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

as a chalk-line. One wave followed the other with fixed 
bayonets until the entire 3,000 men were advancing in the 
impressive wave formation. Their bayonets shone in the 
sun and added much to the showiness of the formation. 
The shells send a queer shiver down one's spine as they 
shriek just a few feet above one's head. I wish I could 
write more about it, but Milton is standing here waiting. 
Dispatch case and watch came tonight. They are 
fine; thanks ever so much. The weather is just perfect, 
and these mountains are wonderful. 

Kenneth. 

LETTER CVIII 

Excellent Shooting at Unseen Targets. — A Wild 
Ride. — The Mathematics Exam. — The Beauti- 
ful Blue Ridge Mountains. — Moonshine 
Stills and Indian Relics. 

Glassy Rock, S. C, Apr. 18-20, 1918. 
Dear Mama: 

Have just a minute to tell you I am well and all O. K. 
We are still at the range, the work wonderfully absorb- 
ing and the mountains beautiful. We are camped at the 
foot of Glassy Rock Mountain, 2,550 ft. high. We have 
a big barrage problem tomorrow. . . . 

During the last three days the weather has been bad, 
just rain, rain and then more rain. It hasn't hampered 
our work much, but has made a great deal of it very 
uncomfortable. We fired our big barrage problem yes- 
terday (Apr. 19), in the rain. The sun was shining 
brightly when we left camp. About an hour later it was 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



251 



pouring. We all left camp for the day, without blouses, 
let alone rain-coats, 

I am going to boast and brag some in this letter, so 
am warning you beforehand. The gun positions were 
three miles from camp. We figured our data the day 




Range-Finding on Unseen Target 

Palmer, Lt. Gow, Lt. Willis, Sergt. Gadebusch, Gurley 
and Henry Jones 

before. The whole M. G. regiment participated, thirty- 
two batteries of machine guns. The target was two com- 
panies of infantry in wave formation, represented by 
heavy pasteboard figures of men, and could not be seen 
by the gunners. We put our guns into position, put our 
C. B. or direction on them and our quadrant elevation, 



252 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

which was a minus, as the targets were down a valley 
about fifty yards below us. The figuring had all been 
done the day before; in fact, it took two days to figure 
the entire barrage. Batteries were fired one behind the 
other, so that some were firing over the heads of others. 
The range was i,68o yds., about a mile. Zero hour was 
2.15 P. M. We started ''ranging in" promptly, and when 
the reports came in on range corrections from the observ- 
ing station, right beside the targets, we were directly on 
them ; our figures were absolutely correct. So you see we 
hit it without ever seeing the target. Each battery had a 
sector. A careful check was made on the number of tar- 
gets hit, and after the count ninety per cent, of them had 
from one to eighty shots through. That is excellent 
shooting. 

After we had arrived at the gun positions, as I have 
told you, it began to rain like sin. So I borrowed a horse 
from the commanding of^cer of the 105th M. G. Bt. and 
started back to camp to get our raincoats, over a road 
which is one steep grade after another. The rain had 
made a quagmire of it, and it was as slippery as grease. 
I made the three miles in fifteen minutes, in the storm. I 
was absolutely soaked, not a dry inch on me, and covered 
with mud from head to foot. The horse slipped all over 
the road, went down the hills on his haunches, and fell 
with me twice. It was a foolhardy thing to do, but I have 
made these cavalry men sit up. You see, all of the 
machine gun battalions were cavalry before they were 
converted. I wish you could see what they call a road 
here. Tuesday night I rode six miles in forty minutes, 
with siK dozen eggs under my arm. I left at li P. M, 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 253 

and got back to camp at twenty minutes of twelve. This, 
let me modestly inform you, is some going in the dark 
over mountain trails. 

Captain Gardner is now major of the 105th M. G. 
Battalion, commissioned yesterday. As soon as we gel 
back to camp, which will be next Saturday, I will be trans- 
ferred to his battalion, and my nomination for first lieu- 
tenant will go to the War. Dept. Things are moving 
quickly back in camp. They are beginning to pack. 

I almost forgot the greatest wonder of all. We had 
our mathematics examination on Thursday. Al and I 
had been boning ever since we received Pop's book. I 
received ninety-five per cent. In grammar, spelling and 
punctuation exam. I received ninety per cent. This was 
easy for me, although most of the men had a harder time 
of it than with their mathematics. Isn't my arithmetic 
mark wonderful? Don't ask how I did it. It is a mys- 
tery, one of the seven wonders. We had a lot of metric 
system problems, such as this: Add 7 km., 9782 cm., 
I myriam., 985 hectom., 4561 decim., 650 decam., and 
4895 mm. The result had to be in the metric table in 
sequence. Another problem was: Convert 9672 feet to 
the metric table. Then we had one like this: Find the 
area of a circle whose radius is 9.75 ft. And another: 
Find the hypotenuse of a right-angled triangle whose 
vertical side is 8.1 ft. and the horizontal side 6.9 ft. 

We had also a lot of square root and fractions, some 

of the latter being like this: Add 3-16 + 1-3 + 56-128; 

772 

add4-i9 + 8i-i6i +98-125 ; change to a decimal 8 ; 

9768 




"These Wonderful Mountains.' 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 255 

ciiange to a common fraction .9625; subtract .56 from 
7-8; and more addition, multiplication and subtraction of 
simple and common fractions, such as 127-9 — 56-7, 
etc. Then we had some problems, a little algebra, some 
simple geometry, etc. It would have come harder, I 
suppose, if I hadn't been doing a lot of figuring along 
with my work, and so got my hand in. Can you do these 
all, M. ? Square root came back after we worked it out 
from the book. 

Pruning boards are sitting all over the camp, and an 
officer in the division has to watch his P's and Q's or he 
will come a cropper. We have had a lot of examinations, 
and I hope they are about through. 

I wish you were here with us in these wonderful 
mountains.* The strawberries are ripe and they are deli- 
cious. There are all kinds of flowers and birds. We 
never take water with us when we go out for the day. 
You can always find a mountain stream, with water cold 
and clear as crystal. We have found all kinds of Indian 
relics, including some perfect specimens of arrow-heads. 
We have also found two abandoned whiskey-stills — 
''moonshine" ones. They are very interesting. Instead 
of copper piping for their coils (or worms) they use bark 
pipe. There are yet some working stills near the range, 
but the M. P.'s are getting them cleared out. Some men 
have been shot hunting them down ; one was a first lieu- 
tenant of the M. P.'s. So you see there is some excite- 
ment and romance left in these hills. 

The longer I stay here the more I am impressed with 

* Within a hundred miles circle are sixty-four peaks, 6,000 feet and upward, 
twenty-four higher than Mount Washington, among them being Mount Mitchell, 
the highest mountain in Eastern America, 6,711 feet. 



256 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

the beauty of the place. Pop is right. We have a won- 
derful country. The more you see of it the more you 
admire it, and it is worth living for, worth fighting for 
and worth dying for, if necessary. 

Love to all the family, 

Ken. 

LETTER CIX 
The Last Letters from Camp W. — Orders 
TO Leave. 

Camp Wadsworth, Apr. 23-27, 1918. 
Dear Mother and Pop : 

Apr. 23. — Am back in camp again, ahead of the com- 
pany. Willis is with me. We are making rapid prepa- 
rations to leave on a detail. Don't know exact date, but 
believe in a day or two. 

Apr. 27. — According to later information, I have an 
even chance of seeing you about the 30th. Exact date 
and time of possible arrival I cannot state. Start tomor- 
row for some place — where, we don't know. 

11.20 A. M., Apr. 27. — From latest news I am very 
much afraid that I shall not get near you. Further than 
that I cannot say. I have turned down a first lieutenancy 
under Major G., for reasons I cannot state in writing, 
for it would involve other things which I am forbidden 
to speak of.* Everything had been arranged for my 
transfer, but T have been given a greater opportunity. 
Hope with all my heart and soul I come north, f 
Ken, 

* He was sent on detached service at an officers' school at Chatillon-sur- 
Seine, France. 

t He did come north and sailed from New York. 




"Retreat. 




Major-General John F. O'Ryan. 

Commanding General of the 27th U. S. Division in France. 

(From a portrait by Sargent.) 



Service in Flanders and France 




May 8, 1918, to Oct. i7, 1918 



Letters from France 

LETTER CX 

On the Eve of Embarkation. 

Camp Merritt, N. J., May 6, 1918. 
Dear Mother: 

I arrived O. K. at camp, reaching here about eight 
o'clock. I took M. to the Pennsylvania station and left 
her there. I bought a book and a few magazines. I 
have had a terrible time packing. I made a mistake in 
not taking two trunks, but will manage to get all of my 
extra things in my bedding-roll, and will trust to luck 
that it won't run overweight. 

We have been very active today getting baggage, etc., 
out. It is hot and every effort brings the perspiration 
streaming. We never had a day as hot as this in the 
South. 

Gave M. address and told her when to start writing. 

I am feeling fine and everything is sure to be all right, 

so you have nothing to worry about. 

So long, with love to the family t- 

^ ^ Kenneth. 

LETTER CXI 
On Board Ship. 
Dear Mother: ^^^ ^' ^9i8. 

Just a few lines, as my time is very much taken up. 
I don't think that this letter will be mailed until port is 
safely made, but it will get to you two or three weeks 
ahead of my next letter. I am very comfortable and 

261 



262 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

feeling fine, and living extremely well. We are not al- 
lowed to cable, so the port authorities will send a tele- 
gram I have already prepared. 

Kenneth. 

LETTER CXII 

At Sea in a German Ship. — Enjoying Comforts 

Provided for Quite Another Kind of 

Passengers. 

No. I. — Postmark, May 23, 1918. 
Dear Mother: 

This letter is going to be rather hard to write, for 
it has to pass the censor, and there are so many things 
that we cannot say or talk about that it seems hardly 
worth while to write. So I guess that most of the things 
which are of the most interest will have to wait until my 
return. 

The enclosed are copies of a daily sheet printed on 
board ship. The name of this paper is significant.* You 
can all get together and put your think-tanks to work, 
and perhaps you and Walter can guess the name of the 
ship we are on.f 

The first three days out were perfect, like days in 
June. Yesterday we got a heavy wind on our quarter, 
which resulted in a heavy sea, which hit us broadside. It 
is still blowing from the same direction, but not quite so 
hard, and the sea has gone down a little. But it has got ' 
in its work, and there is considerable running to ap- 
propriate depositories, and the mess-halls today were not 

* "The Hatchet." 

t The George Washington. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 263 

quite so crowded. It is also easier now to get a steamer 
chair on deck. 

I shall number my letters, so that you will be able to 
keep some kind of track of them. 

There is a lot of satisfaction in reaping some of the 
benefits of the much-talked-of German efficiency. We 
have the satisfaction of knowing that this great ship 
built by the Germans is so constructed as to be almost 
unsinkable. We are eating off German dishes, sleeping 
under fine woollen blankets paid for by the Germans, 
etc. The trip and ship are comfortable in every detail, 
and we are living like the kings of all creation. 

I had an interesting time day before yesterday watch- 
ing the ship's crew at target practice. We have seen the 
usual schools of porpoises and several whales. You will 
notice that ''Bill"* is on the trip with us by looking at 
the "Hatchet." 

1 am well, with the exception of a large and 
beauteous carbuncle on the back of my neck, from which 
I have suffered tortures, but which is easier now since 
the surgeon has lanced it. 

Save the 'TIatchets." I will forward more of them. 
Address: 27th Division Advance School Detachment, 
A. E. P., via New York. 

Kenneth. 



Lt. Streeter. 



264 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

LETTER CXIII 
Going to War de Luxe. 

No. 2. — May, 19 18. 
Dear Pop: 

In writing me mention the number of the letter or 
letters you receive, so that I will know which ones get 
home. 

The weather is perfect again, and the sea beautiful. 
We have seen nothing except schools of porpoises. One 
school played in the ship's bow wave for an hour this 
morning, then left us as suddenly as they came. The 
expanse of water is wonderful, and at times almost in- 
conceivable. I can now fully appreciate the feelings of 
Columbus's crew. 

I have read more than ever in my life in the same 
time. I have consumed several magazines, ''An Orkney 
Maid," which I enjoyed; most of Bryce's ''American 
Commonwealth," although it seems strange that I should 
have the inclination to read such a book at this time; 
"Richard Gordon," "Matthew Porter," Scott's "Bride of 
Lammermoor," which I did not care for very much; 
"Peter Ibbetson," and am now finishing Doyle's "Micah 
Clarke." The ship has a wonderful library, with only 
good books in it. 

Our meals are excellent. For breakfast we have 
fruit (oranges, grapefruit, bananas or apples), cereal, 
eggs (poached, boiled, fried, scrambled or in omelet) 
with fine bacon or sausage, marmalade and fresh-baked 
bread, biscuits and coffee. Dinner runs like this: Roast 
turkey or chicken, roast beef, pork chops or veal cutlets, 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 265 

with potatoes, lima beans or corn, spinach, parsnips, etc. ; 
soup also, and the usual relishes, such as pickles, olives, 
celery, etc. Dessert is usually ice cream and cake or pie, 
all made on board ship. We have some wonderful pastry- 
cooks. Then coffee and crackers and cheese. Supper is 
much the sarnie, soup, corned beef and cabbage, boiled 
tongue, ham, etc., and all we can eat of it. We have 
been entertained while at mess by a pianist, a violinist, a 
baritone soloist and a quartet. There is nothing like 
going to war de luxe. 

Enclosed are some more ''.Hatchets." Carbuncle at 
last on the road to recovery. Can now turn my head a 
little. A more painful thing one could hardly have. Am 
feeling fine otherwise, and enjoying the trip to the fullest 
degree. Dave Flood, from Summit, is on the ship. 

With love to mother and M. 

Kenneth. 

LETTER CXIV 
En Voyage. 

No. 3. — May, 1918. 
Dear Marj.: 

Have just come down to my stateroom after watch- 
ing one of the finest sunsets I have ever seen. The sun 
sank below the horizon at just twenty minutes of nine, 
and at nine o'clock it w^as still daylight. 

Enclosed are some more ''Hatchets," which have 
some things of interest in them. We are not allowed to 
cable on arrival in port, because it would probably be too 
severe a burden on the cable lines. I prepared a telegram 



266 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

which I left at port of embarkation. The authorities 
will send it on safe arrival of the ship in port. 

I have had a salt water shower-bath every morning. 
More luxuries ! 

Ken. 

LETTER CXV 

The Arrival. — Fascinated by the Novel Scenes.— 
American Prodigality. — Doughboy French. 

No. 4. — May, 1918. 
Dear Mother, Pop and Marj.: 

We have arrived in port* safely. The weather is 
perfect, and oh ! the beauty of it all. I wish I could de- 
scribe it to you as I see it. Ridges of hills rising one 
after the other, a quaint, picturesque old city nestling 
among them and running down to the water's edge. 
Beautiful green fields, all with hedges running around 
them, giving a peculiar symmetry to the landscape, like 
a checkerboard. Clumps of trees, and here and there 
a heavily-wooded area. Sheep grazing, some old castles, 
with their moats and walls. Some church spires rising 
above the other buildings; and then the city itself. A 
wonderful picture here from the boat.f 

Everything looks as though it had just received a 
thorough scrubbing with sapolio. I dare not describe it 
too accurately, for it is against the censorship regula- 

* Brest, France. 

t Brest has a very beautiful roadstead, one of the most wonderful natural 
harbors in the world. The small bays, isles and numerous headlands, the river, 
forts and lighthouses, lend to the horizon an unique beauty, fascinating charm 
and grandeur. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 267 

tions. It comes hard, and will be an embarrassment until 
we get used to it. Just imagine ! Here I am with more 
to tell you, and more interesting things to write of, than 
I ever have had before, and I must not. It seems almost 
impossible to realize the fact that this is war, and not a 
pleasure trip. 

The harbor is a wonder, and extremely interesting. 
Small boats of every description, with all kinds of rigs, 
some with lateen sails, some yawl rigged, some with 
sloop or schooner rigging, some with a combination of 
both, and some being propelled by means of a sweep, 
after the fashion of sculling. The harbor brings back 
stories that I have read: ''Midshipman Easy," ''Micah 
Clarke," 'The Three Musketeers," etc. Descriptions of 
similar scenes to the one here appear in all of them. 
Frenchmen come scurrying to the ship's side in boats of 
every description, punts, sailboats and such, and the 
troops, with true American extravagance, fling coins, 
cigarettes and candy by the handful, fifty per cent, of 
which goes overboard. A month from now they will be 
ready to sell their souls for a pack of cigarettes, and they 
knew it, but it didn't make any difference. They tickled 
themselves by talking to these boatmen in what they were 
pleased to call French. Some of it sounded like this: 
"Ooly, ooly, voo' a voo" ; "fermy alia fortay" ; "feely 
minyon," and such-like nonsense. A common question 
was: "Metres alia Paree?" meaning, I suppose, "How 
far to Paris?" It was very amusing. Everyone feels very 
lighthearted and "kiddish" after the strain we have been 
under for the last few days while coming through the 
danger zone. We had some excitement, which I shall 



268 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

tell you about, perhaps, when I find out the censorship 
regulations concerning it. 

We will spend the night aboard, and then proceed to 
camp. Enclosed are the last two numbers of the 
'^Hatchet." 

One day later. 
We have landed and have been billeted all over the 
city. I am in what was once a private house, with some 
forty-five or fifty others. It is all most interesting. I 
am sadly handicapped by a lack of knowledge of the 
French language. The peasants are very quaint in their 
odd costumes. 

I went all over the city yesterday afternoon and eve- 
ning and today. It is a remarkable sight to see officers 
from practically all the armies and navies of the world 
sitting around in the cafes. We will move to our school 
in another day or two. I am dead tired as a result of my 
tramping all over the city. Nearly every woman you 
meet is in black. We have a terrible time in the restau- 
rants trying to order what we want. 
With love. 

Kenneth. 

LETTER CXVI 
The Beauties and Wonders of Brest. 

No. 5. — Brest, May 21, 1918. 
Dear Mother, Pop and Marj.: 

As you will see from this letter-head, I am in Brest. 
Get a good map and take a look at it and you will see 
why I raved so about its wonderful harbor. Permission 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



269 



was given to us yesterday to tell our folks where we 
are if we cared to. We were also given permission to 
send picture postcards, and after I had bought ten francs' 
worth that permission was withdrawn, so I am out about 
$2. We exchanged our money at the rate of 5 frs. 60c; 
that is, for $1 we received 5 frs. 60 cts. We will make 
more on our pay checks. 
This morning I went 
through the Chateau de 
Brest, and never had a 
more interesting time in 
my life. It is a great 
castle and fortress which 
the Phoenicians started 
eleven hundred years be- 
fore Christ. Brest is one 
of the oldest cities in the 
world. During the time 
of the Gallic wars, when 
Caesar's star was in the 
ascendant, it was occu- 
pied by the Romans. Cae- 
sar enlarged the castle 
and greatly strengthened 

it, using it as a stronghold and prison, and later occupied 
it himself. After the fall of the Roman Empire it fell 
into the hands of a long succession of Brittany noblemen, 
all of whom enlarged and improved it. It covers square 
miles — great walls and casements and moats. In its day 
it must have been impregnable. 

I went down into the old prison-cells, the chapels, 




Chateau de Brest. 



270 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

the dungeons, and through a labyrinth of subterranean 
passages, all of which were as dark as night. The outer 
defences were built by Bourbon, a famous engineer who 
lived sometime just before the reign of Louis XIV of 
France. I had a guide, of course. The dungeons are 
terrible, and how prisoners could live in them passes 
all comprehension. Most of them did not, I guess. 
There is one big room the floor of which is lined with 
long, sharp knives. It is many feet under the ground. 
Prisoners were dropped into this place and cut to pieces 
on the knives by means of a heavy roller passing over 
them. Their bodies were left there to rot, and when it 
was thought that they were unrecognizable the room was 
flushed with water by the opening of a gate, w^hich is 
still intact, and the remains washed out into the bay. 
The enemies of the Romans thus never knew what hap- 
pened to their captured comrades. 

The great walls of the fortress run down to the wa- 
ter-front, and are some fifty or sixty feet thick at the 
base. The whole place is in a wonderful state of preser- 
vation. The outlook from the old towers is marvellous. 
They are 300 ft. above the bay. I saw the guillotine 
and cells where men and women were sealed up alive. 
Their skeletons are in the museum. 

I was in the cham.ber where the Princess Azinore 
was imprisoned for sixteen months, until she consented 
to marry the King of France. This was in 1400, and 
the Dukedom of Brittany had descended. to her. The 
Privy Council of the King of France desired the match, 
and finally won over the princess' advisers, who im- 
prisoned her in her own castle tmtil she finally, in despe- 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 271 

ration, consented. That was the end of the indepen- 
dence of Brittany, and it became part of the French Em- 
pire, that, of course, being the reason of the forced mar- 
riage. 

Louis XIV made extensive alterations on the 
chateau. He tore four stories off of all the towers and 
used the stone to pave the streets of Brest. He 
closed up a lot of the Roman wells and passages. An 
estuary from the harbor divides the chateau into two 
parts and added greatly to its strength. The two parts 
are connected by tubes and tunnels which run under the 
harbor. The whole work is immense, and the way in 
which it has lasted through the ages is wonderful. The 
giant drawbridge and portcullis are marvels in them- 
selves. 

I suppose you have had enough about all this, so 1 
will stop. My guide spoke only about ten words of 
English and I about the same of French, yet all the 
above information I managed to get from him. It took 
over half a day and cost me a franc. We drew pictures, 
used our arms, hands and everything else available. 
When we came to a place on the battlements which was 
used to precipitate stones upon an attacking force, he 
would pick up a stone and drop it. So in such fashion 
we got along. 

There are a thousand other interesting things I have 
seen in this city, and I cannot hope to write you of them 
all. I am like a schoolboy suddenly let loose, and have 
been running all over and poking my nose into every- 
thing and having the time of my life. This Old World 
is so new to us. We see things at home which date 



272 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

back to the Revolution, but here are things which are 
older by a thousand years than the Christian era. I am 
told that there are but very few spots so far west as 
this which show evidence of having been occupied by the 
Phoenicians, who, as you know, were great traders and 
merchants. 

We leave here very shortly; when, I cannot say. I 
had my portrait taken today with my overseas rig on, 
and I hope it comes out all right and that you will even- 
tually get copies. 

The French are very interesting, and the politest 
people I have met. Their customs seem strange. The 
restaurants all have set hours for serving meals. You 
cannot go into one at any odd hour and get a meal, as 
we can in New York. The food is excellent and well 
cooked. The strawberries are the finest I ever ate, finer 
by far than ours. They are about the only dessert. 

Have Walter read this letter. I cannot write an- 
other of equal length to him, and I want him to know 
what I am seeing. I am so full of things to tell you of 
already that I guess I will talk for a year when I come 
back. You can imagine how glad I was when the cen- 
sorship was lifted enough to allow me to tell you where 
I am and something about the place; for if I cannot 
write and tell you of the things I see, I don't feel like 
myself. 

The weather has been perfect — very hot, but cool at 
night. We are quartered in a house at one franc a day. 
Some officers are quartered at this hotel (Hotel Conti- 
nental), which costs them six francs. The concierge 
takes care of us at our house. 

So long for the present. Kenneth. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



273 



LETTER CXVII 

Airing their French. — A Proof of the Efficiency 

OF THE Navy. — Telling the Name of 

the Transport. 



No. 6. — Brest, May 22, 1918. 



Dear Pop: 

I have a few minutes, so 
am writing a few lines. I 
have received my pictures, 
which are "punk," but I am 
sending them along just the 
same. According to censor- 
ship regulations, a picture 
cannot be enclosed with a 
letter, so am sending them 
separate. I will put one in 
an envelope from time to 
time and mail it. Then at 
least one ought to reach 
you. I had to stand on 
the bias on account of the 
bandage around my neck, 
as I didn't want it to show. 
There have been no facil- 
ities for a change of uni- 
form, and no opportunity 
to have my clothes pressed ; 
hence the wrinkled condi- 
tion of my suit. 




274 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

We are still having a merry old time of it making 
ourselves understood. Several of us will sit down in a 
restaurant, and after a long consultation and a compari- 
son of our respective knowledge of French, we will call a 
waiter and say: "Gargon, apportez le menu" ; and he will 
say very politely: ''Why, certainly, gentlemen." We 
have had several experiences like this where English 
was spoken. The joke of it is that the officers persist 
in trying to talk in French when they could get along 
very well by speaking English. 

The thing that happened on our trip over, and which 
I said, ia a previous letter, I might tell you of, was 
this: We had one incident near the end of the voyage 
which was hair-raising. What happens often on the 
high seas alniost happened to us. We all heaved a big 
sigh of -relief when we got safe and sound into port. I 
hand it to the navy. They are wonderfully efficient and 
wide-awake. 

I hope you received all the papers I sent you from 
the ship. Take the name of the paper* and then think 
of a cherry-tree and you may guess the riddle I put up 
to you, unless the censor deleted it, in a previous letter, f 

I am feeling fine. I have been all over this town, as 
much of it as can be seen, I guess. It has a population 
of over 90,000. 

Will write again tomorrow, if I have a chance. 
Eove to Mama and Marj. 

Kenneth. 



* "The Hatchet." 

t The name of the transport, the George Washington. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 275 

LETTER CXVIII 
Admiration for France and the French. 

No. 7. — May 26, 1918. 
Dear Pop: 

I have been traveling for the last three days, and 
arrived this morning at our destination,* a beautiful 
place, situated on a famous river, at an altitude which 
has made this section of the country very well known as 
a health resort. France is the most refreshing country 
I have ever seen. Gardens, flowers, etc., are advanced 
to about the same stage that ours are in June and July. 
The whole country is so clean and fresh, and well laid 
out! The cities are beautiful, just like grand parks, and 
kept so clean that it continually surprises you. You over- 
look it for awhile, and then it suddenly impresses you 
anew, particularly when you consider the shortage of 
,men. 

I have never imagined a cultivation so intensive as 
that which exists in France today. It is marvellous ; they 
don't waste a square inch. I cannot express satisfac- 
torily in words the impression the country has made on 
me. It is a perfect paradise, and to think that a great 
part of it has been devastated by a ruthless and wanton 
enemy is unbearable. The French people are wonderful, 
and, O Pop! I just wish you could see them and talk to 
them and hear their comments and their views on the 
war. I am beginning to understand and appreciate the 
Frenchman's love of his country and its institutions. It 
was beyond me before, although we always heard and 
read so much of it. The war is pinching them, as you 

*Chatillon-sur-Seine. 



276 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



know, yet they smile and say: It is war, and we must 
win ; no useless reviling of the enemy, no senseless curs- 
ing of the luck or fate which has plunged the whole coun- 
try in mourning, but a grim determination to sacrifice 
everything for their country and their principles ; al- 
though with the average man it seems to be more his 
country than anything else. 




Chartres Cathedral 



I have been all over several of the famous cities of 
the country. I visited one famous cathedral,* work on 
which was commenced in the eleventh century. I visited 
the city made famous by Jeanne d'Arc,t this one of the 
most interesting. It is a very thrilling experience to 
stand in the midst of some of these wonderful old places 
where history has been made. I should have liked to 
have spent a month in each of them. We had long stops 



* Chartres Cathedral. 



t Orleans. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 277 

in each of these places, in most cases long enough to hur- 
riedly see all of them. I was, of course, terribly handi- 
capped by my lack of knowledge of French, as I always 
went off by myself, not caring to have anyone with me. 
Life is surely worth living when there is so much beauty 
in the world, and it is a noble cause which has brought 
us all the way from America. 

We have been billeted in the town here. It is 8.30 
P. M., and I am sitting out in a pretty garden, amidst 
the most pleasant surroundings, writing this letter to you. 
The sun has not yet set, and there are a dozen different 
varieties of song-birds, each one singing as though trying 
to drown the next one out. The garden belongs, with 
the building in which some of us are quartered, to an 
old villa which has been standing some three or four 
hundred years, and is of some size. 

Most cill of such things as I am writing of, Pop, I 
know that you have seen, but I am so full of them that I 
suppose I must mention them. The censorship regula- 
tions are very stringent, and it is hard to write a letter 
and have to keep thinking of them all the time. 

Roy Underwood is here. He was the first man I 
met. I have met some one I know in nearly every place 
I have been. I am feeling fine, a little tired after the 
long trip in a French railroad coach — no toilets or any- 
thing — but a great experience. We will not be here very 
long, and we will be worked as we never have been 
worked before, so will probably not have time for many 
long letters. Love to Mama and Marj. 

Kenneth. 



278 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

LETTER CXIX 

The Great Work Done by the Y. M. C. A. 

May — , 1918. 
Dear Walter: 

After three days' traveling I have arrived at the 
school point,* where I shall be for only a short time. By 
the time you receive this letter, or shortly thereafter, I 
hope to be at the front. 

Roy Underwood is here. He is doing statistical work 
at H. O. Have also met Leith Speiden, who is stationed 
here, and Clarence Bailey is not far from here. So you 
see I feel quite at home. This town is beautifully situ- 
ated on the banks of France's famous river. We have 
had perfect weather ever since landing. The country is 
the most refreshing I have ever seen, and one of the most 
beautiful. Have visited several large cities and one great 
cathedral; also visited the city made famous by Jeanne 
d'Arc. Have never seen a country so intensively culti- 
vated, not a square foot being wasted. 

Don't expect any news. There are so many things 
that we cannot write about, that it is difficult to write a 
letter with anything in it. Willis got here yesterday. 

The Y, M. C. A. is doing a noble work here, and de- 
serves all the support the people back home can give it. 
Wherever the American soldier is, there also is the Y. M. 
C. A_. They give the highest exchange on money, be- 
cause they do it without profit; have the only places 
where you can buy cigarettes, which they sell at cost 
price ; provide baseball material, a fine library, with mag- 
azines, etc. The average soldier soon tires of walking 

* Chatillon-sur-Seine. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 279 

around during his off hours. He wants to go for his 
recreation to some place where he is understood, and 
where he can speak his own language, and there is the 
Y. M. C. A. read}^ waiting for him. They furnish inter- 
preters and guides, and on your arrival will tell you 
everything you want to know about the place you are in. 
They also provide meals. 

,, 1- cannot date my letters. If I were home today I 
would bg parading up the avenue with the old regiment 
in honbr of the G. A. R. 

Paul Bradley has been wounded, but will recover. 
Look occasionally at the casualty hsts, as there are a 
bunch of our friends at the front now. 

Give my very best to your father and mother and 
remember me to Peel. Will try and write him before I 
leave here. Don't forget to run down to the house once 
in a while, Walter, and if B. should call you up, give 
her all the news for my sake. Write often. 

Kenneth. 

LETTER CXX 

The Officers' Club at Chatillon, Established 

AND Maintained by the Y. M. C. A. — A 

Musical Evening. — Praise for the 

Y. M. — Veterans' Parades in 

THE Future. 

No. 8.— May, 1918. 
Dear Mother, Pop and Marj.: 

I have thoroughly explored the place in which we are 
located since last writing, and the farther I get the more 
interesting this country is. We are limited to an area 



280 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



which extends four kilometres from the boundaries of 
the town. I am biUeted in an old monastery which was 
built in 1226, and is still as solid as ever. It was one of 
Gen. Joffre's headquarters.* We were moved after one 
night in the building from which I wrote my first letter 
from here. 

The Y. M. C. A. have established an officers' club 



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Monastery of Les Cordeliers, Chatillon 

here in an old French mansion. It has been repaired 
and furnished with old French furniture. There is an 
excellent grand piano and an organ, with one of the 
finest collections of m.usic I have seen, including the 
scores of nearly all of the operas. The house is sur- 
rounded by spacious grounds and beautiful gardens, and 

headquarters of Gen. Jofifre 



* "Les Cordeliers, 
battle of the Marne. 



in Sept., 1914, during the 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 281 

sits up high on a hill, with the river running through 
the estate at the bottom of it. It is a wonderfully fine 
place. It is open only to officers of the Allied armies. 
There are writing-rooms, reading-rooms, a fine lounging- 
room, and an immense dining-room, with Louis XIV 
furniture and a great candelabra. Magazines and a fine 
library are for the convenience of all, and it costs not a 
cent. The Y. M. C. A. made all the arrangements and 
maintain the house. It is under the management of two 
very fine American ladies, who make excellent hostesses.* 
One is made to feel at home and at his ease at once. 
There is a most interesting register. Each officer regis- 
ters the first time he visits the club. It contains the 
names of officers of nearly all the Allied armies, men 
from all over the world. Nearly every State in the 
Union is represented. An officer registers his name, 
rank, organization, home address, college and fraternity. 
Then, as new ones come in, they can find men whom they 
may know. 

I take this opportunity to tell you of the work the 
Y. M. C. A. is doing over here. Wherever a man in uni- 
form goes, he finds the Y. M. C. A. hut. They provide 
meals, interpreters, reading, writing-rooms, paper and 
ink; give the highest exchange on money; supply base- 
ball material ; have tennis courts, handball and volley-ball 
courts, etc., etc. The average American soldier soon 
sees all that he wants to of the place that he happens to 
be in, and it is only a short time before he has a violent 
desire for the amusements he has always had, and the 
company of people who understand him and speak his 
language. These desires of his are gratified at the Y. M. 

* Miss Julia Hurlburt and Miss Alice Macy. 



282 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

C. A. He spends nearly all his off time there, in a clean 
atmosphere. If people ask you why they should donate 
money, books and so forth to the Y. M. C. A., tell them 
all this. We recognize the association as a very essen- 
tial part of the army proper, and an institution which 
can do more for the morals of the men than all the regu- 
lations in the world. 

At the officers' club last evening the Y. M. C. A. ar- 
ranged a concert for us. Two singers, a tenor, a man 
enlisted by the Y. M. C. A. for the purpose, and a con- 
tralto, together with a pianist, entertained us until the 
singers grew hoarse. The singers were fine artists, the 
tenor very much like McCormack, and the contralto, a 
young American girl, had a beautiful voice. They sang 
some of my favorites, ''Ai Nostri Monti" from *T1 Tro- 
vatore," '*Che Gelida Manina" from ''La Boheme," ''One 
Fine Day" from "Madame Butterfly," "My Laddie," 
"Land of the Sky-Blue Water"; and the contralto sang 
a series of Indian songs by the American composer 
Thoreau which I had never heard before, and which 
were beautiful. They sang in three languages. I have 
never spent a more enjoyable evening, principally, I sup- 
pose, because it was all so unexpected. Can you not 
imagine what this means to us here? Another fine thing 
the Y. M. C. A. is doing: These singers travel all 
through the zone of the advance singing to the soldiers. 

We are having only two hours' drill a day this week, 
until school opens on Monday. I took a long walk out 
in the country this afternoon, looking for L'Ecole 
d'Agricole, which we were told was not far outside the 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 283 

city wall. I failed to find it, but had a beautiful walk, 
also visited the aviation field. 

I suppose that if I were to be home tomorrow, and 
still in the old regiment, I would be parading up ''the 
avenue'' in honor of the G. A. R.* Mama used to say 
that when the G. A. R. went marching by she thought 
the end of the column would never come. Just think. 
Ma, what it is going to be like when we all go marching 
by after the war. We will make the G. A. R. look like 
pikers. 

Let me know if the pictures get to you all right. 
Some of my mail may not reach you, as I find that I 
have addressed it wrong. The regulations in force at 
Brest do not hold here, and I have been following in- 
structions received there. The censor here destroys mail 
not addressed in accordance with his directions. f 

Am feeling fine. Remember me to Aunt A. and any- 
,one else who may be interested. 

With love, 

Kenneth. 

LETTER CXXI 

A Memorial Service on Decoration Day. — A 

Dinner with Friends from Home. 

No. 9. — ^June, 1918. 
Dear Mama: 

The weather continues absolutely perfect, we having 
had but one light shower since arriving, all the rest of 
the days being cloudless. 

A very impressive memorial service was held here on 

* Grand Army of the Republic, veterans of the Civil War. 
t Not one of his letters failed to arrive. 



284 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

Decoration Day, which I attended. The graves of four 
Americans killed in action, and buried in a beautiful little 
French cemetery, were decorated and the customary 
military honors accorded them — three volleys and the 
sounding of taps. An army chaplain read Pres. Wilson's 
Memorial Day proclamation and made a few well-chosen 
and appropriate remarks. The service was beautiful. I 
think the dead men were the best off of all of us in the 
cemetery. They have made their peace, and this world, 
with its Titanic struggles, its fight for existence and all 
its pettiness, worries them no more. 

The Y. M. C. A. give another concert Sunday eve- 
ning at the Officers' Club, to which I am going. I have 
been invited out to dinner by Roy Underwood tonight. 

I have been all over the town and seen everything 
two or three times over, so will be content to devote my- 
self to my work and nothing else. The course lasts four 
weeks, so will be on my way by the first of Jul}-. 

Willis got in yesterday. He had a day in Paris 
while **Bertha" was bombarding the city. He says the 
big gun did practically no damage. 

I am feeling fine. We have an excellent mess, which 
costs us five francs per day, and is worth it. I have or- 
dered a new uniform from a tailor here, price 280 francs, 
or $56. It is a serge, English cloth, which is far finer 
than ours and heavier than anything that can be obtained 
in the serge line at home. 

Will write again tomorrow, as I will be unable to 
write quite so often after that, because the course begins 
Monday morning. Have written Rob. Let me know 
about him. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 285 

A day later. 

I did not get this letter off yesterday, after all. Had 
dinner with Roy Underwood and two friends of his last 
evening, and it was very fine. One of his friends has a 
fine suite of rooms in a French house. His landlady 
prepared the meal. We all had a most enjoyable evening. 

This is our last day of rest. We have been the 
luckiest detail that ever came to France, having had so 
much time to see the country, almost three weeks. I am 
feeling splendid, as I hope you all are. Of course, I am 
anxiously looking for mail. The delivery of mail here is 
more or less problematical. If a man is lucky, he will 
get it. 

Leve to all, 

Kenneth. 

LETTER CXXn 

The French People and the Y. M. C. A. Again 
Commended. 

France, 1918. 
Dear Mr. Geistweit: 

Have time for just a few lines to let you know I am 
here safe and sound. We had a perfect trip across, with 
fine weather all the way, with one incident highly excit- 
ing, which you will have to guess at. I spent five days 
at one of the great French ports, and three more travel- 
ling to my section. 

You will be interested to know that I picked up a 
copy of the "Motion Picture Classic" in a French hotel. 
It certainlv looked like home to see it . . . The attitude 



286 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

of the French people in regard to the war is a very won- 
derful thing to see. They have given their all and many 
lives. I wish some of their spirit could be instilled into 
the souls of some of our stay-at-homes and non-support- 
ers of the government. I have visited some of the 
famous cities of France, and many historical spots. It is 
all most interesting and absorbing. 

If you meet anyone, Mr. Geistweit, who wants to help 
the man in uniform, tell him to donate to the Y. M. C. A. 
I cannot speak too highly of the wonderful work they 
are doing for our men here. Wherever the American 
soldier goes, the Y. M. C. A. is there ahead of him. They 
are along the front, behind the lines, at debarkation 
points — in fact, all over. . . . They are always there 
with just what a man in a strange country wants. I 
cannot begin to try and show you what these things 
mean to us here. The Y. M. C. A. furnishes a fine, 
manly, healthy environment for us all, officers and men 
alike. It does more to help a man to live the life his 
mother wants him to than any other one thing outside 
of his own conscience. So it deserves the support of all 
of our people. 

Remember me to George, and tell him to give my 
best to his sister. Hope business is good. Write me 
soon. 

Sincerely, 

Kenneth Gow. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 287 

LETTER CXXIII 
Hard Work at the Chatillon School. 

No. ID. — June 9, 19 18. 
Dear Mother, Pop and Marj.: 

Our course began on Monday, as I wrote you, and I 
haven't had a single minute since to write. This is Sun- 
day. I wrote last a week ago. We begin work at 7 
A. M. (reveille at 5.30 A. M.) and continue straight 
through until 9 P. M., with three-quarters of an hour for 
mess. The course is terrible. I have never had to work 
before like this. They are shooting the stuff at us faster 
than you would think anyone could possibly absorb it — 
lecture after lecture and then field work. You sink or 
swim, are rated either good or deficient, and we have to 
work like fiends or flunk the course, and it is the finish 
of us if we do. 

Today, Sunday, I spent all morning at the school, 
going over some Avork I thought I needed, and all after- 
noon in the field on map work. It is all very intricate, 
and needs practice, practice and then more practice. It 
is simply work all the time. Men come home at 9.30 in 
the evening and just flop into bed. 

I have written Rob only once. Be sure and let me 
know about him. I hope none of my mail was on the 
President Grant when she went down. Have read of the 
sub raid along the coast of the U. S. Cannot comment 
on it, of course. The weather still continues perfect, 
with a cloudless sky. The days are very hot and the 
nights very cool — a beautiful climate. ''Sunny France" 
is right, but I am afraid it won't be always so. The win- 



288 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

ters are very disagreeable, according to our men who 
have been here. 

I am going to the officers' club for a little while this 
evening, for some relaxation. Tell Walter how busy I 
am, and why I cannot write. I ought to hear from you 
shortly, if my mail finds me, which is always doubtful. 
Am feeling fine, and am as brown as a berry. 

Hoping you are all w^ell. 

Kenneth. 

LETTER CXXIV 

A Military and Athletic Tournament. — Georges 

Carpentier. — Lectures by Officers of 

Highland Regiments. — Exams. 

No. II. — June i6, 1918. 
Dear Marj.: 

Our course goes merrily on. I have certainly put in 
a hectic two weeks. Mail is coming in to a lot of the 
men, so I am. on the lookout. I really cannot expect any 
mail here, because I told you all to address it care of the 
company, and it will go where it is. By the time mail 
addressed to me care of the 27th Div. School Detach- 
ment gets here I shall be gone. I acted on instructions, 
but it is rather mixed up. 

The authorities, in conjunction with the French 
Army, gave the entire school an exhibition of bayonet 
fighting, grenade throwing, fencing, all kinds of athletic 
stunts and gymnasium work, straight wrestling, Roman 
wrestling, jiujitzu, personal combat, boxing, etc., etc. It 
was very interesting, a great sight. About thirty of 
France's famous athletes, who are instructors in the 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 289 

army, and all of whom are unfit for service now by 
reason of deafness, loss of an eye, etc., gave the exhibi- 
tion. It was staged in a great field beside our barracks, 
and the many-colored uniforms of the French officers, 
mingled with those of nearly every other allied army, 
and mixed with the more sober color of our own, was a 
great sight. The athletes were fine specimens, and their 
work as good as can be seen anywhere. 

The famous Georges Carpentier gave a wonderful 
exhibition of boxing. He is perfectly built and exceed- 
ingly good-looking. He does not look like a French- 
man; has very regular features and thick yellow hair. 
He is a second lieutenant in the French Army. France's 
two champion fencers also gave an exhibition. It was 
all very fine and a great relaxation from the grind. 

We also had two interesting lectures this week, one 
by a captain of the Gordon Highlanders and the other 
by an officer from another Scotch regiment. Both are 
instructors here. Exams are coming thick and fast. One 
I passed, one I just got by on, and the other I flunked 
flat. So' it goes. Things are coming fast. 

I suppose you know that Gaddy has been commis- 
sioned. I don't know whether he has landed in our com- 
pany or not; haven't been able to find out. News we 
get none. I buy the Paris edition of the Herald every 
day, but, of course, it has no news in it. I see that the 
subs are still around the coast and that New York is 
dark. Has Pop managed to get the garden made? Send 
me all the news. Remember me to Aunt A. ; I cannot 
write her. Am well. 

Ken. 



290 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

LETTER CXXV 

Receives Letters from Home. 

No. 12. — June, 1918. 
Dear Mother: 

Your letters of the 15th and 21st of May came today, 
just exactly one month to a day after the last one was 
mailed. Believe me, I tell you I am a happy gink. I 
cannot tell you how glad I am to get your mail; almost 
two months is a long time. Al* forwarded them to me 
from the company. 

Your news of Rob most interesting. I shall write 
him immediately, in the hope that I can get in touch 
with him. I am sorry he did not get home, but you were 
fortunate in being with him for a day. 

In the same mail with yours I also received a letter 
from Palmer and a wedding announcement from Don 
Walker, which latter was mailed to me at Camp Wads- 
worth and went all the way to America and back again 
to France to me. 

I left you on a Sunday night, boarded the transport 
on Tuesday and we left the dock on Wednesday evening 
just between 5.15 and 5.45, about the time Pop would 
be going across the Hudson on his way home, and I have 
often wondered if he saw a great transport ship backing 
out from right beside the ferry slip. We were all or- 
dered down below and not allowed on deck until the har- 
bor was cleared. So the last I saw of our country was 
only the faint outline of the shore in the setting sun. 

I will be looking for mail regularly now. You 
should have heard of my safe arrival before the last let- 

* Lt. Harry. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 291 

ter was mailed, as we were in five days before you 
wrote it. 

Am feeling fine and working like Sam Hill. Al 
wi'shes me to remember him to you. I don't know where 
the regiment is. Gaddy is commissioned in our com- 
pany. 

Love to all. 

Ken. 

LETTER CXXVI 

''Sunny" France Shows Another Side. — Going to 

THE Flanders Front. — The Last Word in 

Machine Guns. — Getting Better 

Acquainted with the 

Britisher. 

No. 13. — June 21, 1918. 
Dear Pop, Mama and Marj.: 

This is just to wish Marj. many happy returns of the 
day. Our fair and sunny France has completely dis- 
appeared. It has been raining all week, and now we 
understand why so much woollen clothing is recom- 
mended. You certainly need it when it gets wet. 

June 23- 

I received a letter from Rob yesterday telling me of 
his safe arrival in this country . . . The weather is 
still wet; it has rained steadily for a week. Today 
(Sunday) it looks as though it might clear, but the 
weather is very fickle. The sun may be shining brightly, 
and, before you notice, it has clouded over and is pour- 
ing . . . When it rains here you need something which 
is very warm as well as waterproof. 



292 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

Do you remember me talking about the Irish 
sergeant-major who was our instructor when I took the 
EngHsh bayonet and physical course? Do' you remem- 
ber me saying what part of the front he had been in, 
and that I hoped we would never go there. Well, it is 
a funny thing, but that is just where we are going. If 
you can recollect, you will know where I will be.* 




The Browning Machine Gun. 

We had a wonderful demonstration of nearly all the 
machine guns of the world yesterday, including German 
guns which had been captured and the latest success of 
our own country. We have the last word in machine 
guns in our own, the Browning. We have not got them 
for use here, but all troops home are being equipped 
with the Browning, according to latest advices. 

We pull out of here one week from today. I expect 
to visit France's big city. While here I have had a bet- 
ter opportunity to meet and know the Britisher, and I 
certainly like him. The few that I have heretofore met 

* Flanders. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER .293 

and known — referring to Englishmen — have not been 
typical. There are a great many Scotch officers here of 
the Gordons and the Argyle and Sutherland High- 
landers, and they are fine fellows, as are the English 
officers. We have a lot of French officers also who are 
fine men and speak excellent English. Two of them are 
Cornell graduates. 

Ken. 

LETTER CXXVII 
Nearing the End of the School Course. 

No. 14. — June, 1918. 
Dear Pop: 

I have just come back to our barracks after the 
evening session. We are getting only field work this 
week, with a lot of night work. We fired a barrage over 
the heads of our own men last night, using twenty- four 
guns. It was a raid problem, and was very successful. 

It has cleared again, and the weather is beautiful. 
We leave here on Monday, so have just four days more. 
I will be more than glad to get back to the regiment, for 
I have missed the company. 

I suppose you have read Gen. March's statement con- 
cerning the number of U. S. troops here now. It is 
mighty fine. 

The stories about discomfort are grossly exagge- 
rated. Our greatest hardship is the terrible scarcity of 
cigarettes and tobacco. I am going to be in a bad w^ay 
when my present supply is exhausted. It is almost done 
now, and, as you probaljly know, we cannot have any 
parcel post mailed to us. 



294 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



I bought myself a rain-coat for 255 francs, and right 
afterwards the O. M. announced that they would sell 
these coats for $19.50. A lot of our men have bought 
Bedford cloth breeches, which cost from 250 to 350 frcs., 
and the O. M. now sell them for $6.50. 

I will write again before I leave, for we shall be two 




Lt. Gow (left) and Lt. Willis (centre), Chatillon 

or three days on the way, and I will be unable to write. 

I hope you are all well. I am feeling fine and weigh 
about 190 lbs. Enclosed is a ''snap" taken here by one 
of the men. 

Love to Mama and Marj. 

Kenneth. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 295 

LETTER CXXVIII 
Burrowing Like a Mole. — Unearthing Fossils. 

No. 15. — June 27, 1918. 
Dear Mother, Pop and Marj.: 

I have only two more days of school. I will be here 
one day, and then we leave to rejoin the division. I 
have just received a letter from Helmuth, who is in the 
company, as I wrote. 

We are doing altogether field and night work now. 
I have been burrowing in the ground Hke a mole; have 
three or four blisters on each hand. Yesterday I broke 
three picks, and today I ''bust" another one. Pretty like 
me, you will say. The soil here is the rockiest I ever 
saw. I don't understand how they ever plough it, or how 
they raise such fine crops. It is almost solid rock, which 
breaks into small flat pieces when you drive a pick into 
it. There is much lime in the soil, and the rock is full of 
fossils. We broke it open and found perfect moulds of 
fish, shells and all kinds of what once had been sea life. 
It is most interesting. 

Tomorrow we spend in camouflage, and the day fol- 
lowing we wind things up with a big manoeuvre. We 
will have all branches of the service represented, includ- 
ing aeroplanes. 

I will write once more from here, and then probably 
will not have a chance again until I get back with the 
company. 

Am feeling fine, and we are having delightful 
weather again. 

Kenneth. 



296 " LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

LETTER CXXIX 

Clothing Required by Orders Now Found Useless. 

— Fifty Pounds of Baggage Only. — 

Cherry Time. 

No. 1 6. — June 30, 19 18. 
Dear Pop: 

I am all packed up, ready to leave tomorrow morn- 
ing. We are reduced to fifty pounds baggage; all else 
has left here already for storage. The chances are that 
we will never see it again. Those things which we were 
recjuired to buy just before we left the U. S. are nearly 
all useless. I have had to throw away five or six suits 
of light summer underwear, my cotton and linen shirts, 
a lot of handkerchiefs and heaven knows what all. I 
did not have room in my luggage to pack it. I have 
packed two of my blankets, which are surplus, and my 
overcoat in my trunk. I hope that it will be some place 
where I can get at it when winter comes.* We haven't 
the slightest idea where our baggage is being sent. 
Three other officers have some of my things. One has 
packed a wool uniform for me, one my cotton uniform, 
and another has leggings and some other things. I tried 
to get another trunk, but could not find one in the whole 
town. So my effects are scattered all over. From all 
this you will gather that we will go ''right in." We get 
our travel orders at four o'clock this afternoon. We 
finished our course yesterday with a big manoeuvre, and 
there are certainly a lot of happy men here. 

It is cherry time in the Province of Cote d'Or. The 
cherries are fine, and you will know that I have eaten 

* These articles were in his trunk when sent home. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 297 

my share. I expect to find some mail waiting for me 
when I rejoin the company. I will have a chance to read 
it with one eye and watch the Hun with the other. 
Am feeling fine. Love to Mama and Marj. 

Kenneth. 

LETTER CXXX 

Chasing the Division. — Beautiful but Devastated 

Francp:. — The Inconceivable Panorama of 

War. — A Gathering of the Nations. 

No. 17. — July 4, 19 18. 
Dear Mother, Pop and Marj.: 

We have been chasing the division for four days and 
have not found it yet. I am in a British officers' club and 
rest-house in a town on the North Sea.* I have had 
many and varied experiences these last four days, the 
chief of which is the loss of every blessed thing I own 
except what I have on my back. That means about $600 
worth of equipment. It happens to every one sooner or 
later, so I may as well be philosophical about it and start 
in again. I have talked to British officers who have lost 
their kits four and five times. When you get into the 
lines you always lose everything. It is an expensive 
game. In my case the railroad did it. There is no come- 
back. 

I witnessed an air raid on Paris. We came down 
the Seine valley to Rouen, one of the most beautiful 
sights imaginable. All of the country up here is war- 
torn, the towns practically levelled flat by bombardment. 
I was in Abbeville, which is more or less of a wreck. 



* The English Channel. 



298 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



Pop, I guess, has seen the Seine valley, so he knows how 
beautiful it is. I spent six hours in Mantes, a fine city. 
By a good map you will see where these places are. 

We have ridden in all kinds of cars and trains. Our 
last lap was made in an Italian freight car, which was as 
dirty as a pigsty. All in the game. You see nothing but 
troops, troops and troops. I have seen and talked to all 
kinds of officers, French, English, Scotch, Australian, 
Canadian, Senegalese, Moroccan, Algerian, Portuguese, 




The Path of War 



Italian, etc. It seems as if the whole world were here. 
War equipment, big guns, soldiers, nurses, etc., all in a 
never-ceasing stream come and go. It is a marvellous 
sight, and absolutely never conceived by the most imagin- 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 299 

ative fiction writers. People at home cannot begin to 
realize what France and England and their colonies are 
doing in this war until they have seen what we have. 

All through this forward zone or area the British 
have great rest-camps established, with fine clubs for the 
officers. Hundreds of English girls have been sent out 
as waitresses, chambermaids, cashiers, etc. They are all 
enlisted in the W. A. A. C* Ask Daisy what this is ; I 
don't know yet. 

I like the Britishers, particularly the Australians. 
The officers are all gentlemen. The Englishman has a 
reserve very hard to break through, but once it is down 
he is very much a human being. Most of the Scotch- 
men I have met have been bully fellows, but certainly I 
have bumped into a couple of sour ones. These two I 
refer to would curdle the very milk they drink. We had 
some fine ones back at the school. I came up on the train 
with an officer of the Seaforth Highlanders. The Aus- 
tralians seem to be the particular cronies of all the 
American troops. They are more like ourselves than any 
of the other allies. They think the U. S. troops are 
great, and tell us so. They are grand fighters themselves, 
and have a fine reputation with the allied armies. 

I have seen a great deal of France, all the way from 
near the Swiss border to the sea, and I am not through 
yet. I have been all through the ground over which the 
battle of the Marne was fought, fields dotted with the 
graves of the French soldiers who fell there. People 
have come back to their homes and have cultivated the 
ground again, field after field of crops planted all around 
the graves and wooden crosses, which have not been dis- 

* Women's Army Auxiliary Corps. 



;.s?^f>-<. 



300 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

turbed. There are many, many things of which I am 
aching to tell you, but the censorship regulations forbid. 

The division is on the move, hence our long chase. 
Last night I slept in a hotel, and the floor of the room I 
occupied was covered with broken glass, the effects of a 
bomb dropped a short time previously. It is expensive 
as the dickens, this travelling. Will stop, as I am to go 
bathing in the Mer du Nord. I expect it will be cold 
as ice, but I am going in. 

I hope you are all well and that everything is fine. 
Have Walter read this letter and tell him to remember 
me to his family. 

Ken. 

LETTER CXXXI 

Toasting the Fourth. — Practical Joking With 
Serious Results. 

No. i8.— Officer's Rest-House & Mess, 

July 5, 1918. 
Dear Mama, Pop and Marj. : 

I have just finished a fine English breakfast and have 
bought me a Corona cigar. There was a great celebra- 
tion of the Fourth here last night, which I must tell 
you of. 

There are several hundred British officers here,* 
Canadian, Scotch, English and Irish, and fifty-six 
Americans. Things were quiet in the afternoon, but 
along toward six o'clock they started to look up. By 
nine o'clock at night things were whooping. About 
seventy-five per cent, of the club were roaring drunk, 

* Etaples. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 301 

and the drunkest of the bunch were gentlemen named 
Wallace, Brennan, Cameron and the like. Our men be- 
haved very well and those who drank carried their liquor 
like gentlemen. Most of these officers are just out of 
the line, so you can imagine how easy it was for them to 
cut loose. No one disgraced himself, but the Fourth was 
certainly toasted with vehemence. 

I didn't finish this letter as I had hoped to do, but 
went to the beach instead with a crowd of our men, all 
from our party, which resulted in an accident which has 
made us all feel pretty much cut up. There were four 
British aviators flying over the town and up and down 
the beach. They started getting funny almost as soon as 
we arrived. They would suddenly swoop down at a 
group on the beach, and, just before getting to them, 
would elevate enough to clear their heads. They kept at 
it so much and came so close that some of us got off the 
beach for fear of getting hurt. Four of our men re- 
mained, and after a while one of the aviators came back 
and did the same thing again — flew down the beach a 
few hundred yards, turned around and headed for the 
same four officers, whom he had just made to flatten 
themselves on the ground, only this time he miscalcu- 
lated his distance and hit two of them. They are second 
lieutenants, both fine fellows, and were in my squad at 
our school. The other two, a captain who was my squad 
leader and another second lieutenant, managed to flatten 
themselves out in time and escaped uninjured. One of 
the men hit, whose name is Perkins and an old friend of 
Dick's, is not hurt very badly, and will probably get out 
of the hospital in about two weeks. The other man got 



302 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

it in the back. It broke several ribs, and the doctors are 
afraid that both his kidneys and Hver have been punc- 
tured. Both these men were commissioned from the 
officers' training camp just before we left home. It was 
certainly a strange idea of a joke. These blasted avia- 
tors had been terrifying every one on the beach all morn- 
ing. We are, of course, mad through and through. We 
got the number of the machine and have sent in a com- 
plaint through channels which we are certain are going 
to see it through. We have sent in a report to headquar- 
ters. British officers who witnessed the accident have 
helped us in every way. The incident has put a gloom 
on our stay here, which otherwise has been very pleasant. 

There are some wonderful hospitals here, and hun- 
dreds of Canadian and English girls and women, who 
are nurses, clerks, waitresses, truck-drivers, automobile 
drivers ; in fact, everything. England must have an enor- 
mous army of women in service, and they are doing fine 
work. 

We are off after the division again tomorrow morn- 
ing. I don't know what I am going to do for clothes 
and an outfit. It doesn't seem possible to get a thing so 
far up. This place has been a famous resort, and we 
would have enjoyed it more if it had not been for this 
damnable accident. It is bad enough to lose men in 
battle, but to have them put out of commission as the 
result of a practical joke, by some irresponsible kid of an 
English aviator who was showing off, is the limit. 

I am feeling fine, and think that I shall have some tea 
and biscuits, like the Britishers here, as it is four o'clock. 

Ken. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 303 

LETTER CXXXII 

Rejoins His Company. — Attentions from 'Tritz." 

— Every American Proud of His Country. 

— Comfortable and no Cooties. 

No. 19. — July 8-9, 19 18. 
Dear Mother, Pop and Marj.: 

Have found the company at last.* July 9. — This is 
as far as I got yesterday. I have been very busy, and 
everything has been suddenly and unexpectedly upset by 
the transfer of Capt. Whitney. The company is terribly 
cut up over it, for Capt. Whitney has a wonderful per- 
sonality which wins everyone. 

We had a long chase after the company and arrived 
at a small town of the same name as the mill Pop's 
people had.f Then came a series of ''lorry jumpings," 
as they call it ; that is, riding truck trains. After about 
forty miles of this I finally found the company, receiving 
a fine welcome. 

There were three letters, one from each of you, wait- 
ing for me, the last one dated June 2d. Pop's letter fine. 
Glad you received my first mail and that everyone is 
well. The A. J. C. C. exhibit was quite a success, which 
is gratifying. 

This country is very interesting. The company has 
been continually on the march until yesterday, when 
they rejoined the regiment and have settled down to 
work. We are camped in an open field, with the stars 

* At Winnezeele, Belgium. 

t Watten, about thirty kilometres east of Calais. There is a parish named 
Watten in the North of Scotland, County of Caithness. 



304 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



for coA^er. A woman prepares the officers' meals in a 
nearby house. We take our rations to her and she cooks 
them. We are eating remarkably well. 

We had two showers last night, one of rain and one 
of shrapnel, both heavy and both equally harmless. Fritz 

took a notion to bom- 
bard the whole landscape, 
and succeeded in keeping 
us awake for a little while. 
The men are all out 
picking up bits of shell 
this morning for sou- 
venirs. Our artillery 
got busy, and Fritz called 
quits. 

It was very consider- 
ate of the P. O. to call 
you up about my mail. I 
received a letter from 
Otto, but none from 
Walter. Show him this 
letter and tell him to 
write all he can. I also 
received a church calen- 
dar of May 26 from 
Mrs. H. L. Austin. 
Wasn't the Fourth a grand day? I am sending a 
copy of the continental edition of an English paper. You 
probably have read of the honors accorded our country 
in London and Paris. The announcement of our million 
men and the report of the Shipping Board made every 




© Marceau. 

Major Stanton Whitney, 
105th Machine Gun Battalion. Cap- 
tain M. G. Co, 107th Inf., from 

Mar. 1, 1918, to July 6, 1918. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 305 

American here hold his head up with pride. These are 
great times. 

I can't tell you how glad I am to be back with my 
own men. I was disappointed in not seeing Al and 
Gaddy, who are away at school. This is about all the 
news. I want to turn in earty, because Fritz is going to 
wake us up when he starts his damnable guns agoing a 
little later. 

I am comfortable as can be, and have not made the 
acquaintance of a cootie yet. Mr. Cootie has been vastly 
over-estimated. He presents no terrors, and if he does 
happen to have the temerity to put in an appearance, he 
is very easy to put the cjuietus on. Let Aunt A. read my 
letters and give her my love. It is absolutely essential 
that I cut my correspondence down to the minimum, so 
I will not attempt to write her. 

I will write again in a day or two, and meanwhile 
will look for more mail every day. 

Ken. 

LETTER CXXXIII 

Getting Into Harness Again. — Regiment Quite 

Spread. 

No. 20. — July II, 1918. 
Dear Mother, Pop and Marj.: 

I am beginning to feel at home again with the com- 
pany. It is very hard to step right in and take a hold 
of things after so long an absence. The sudden transfer 
of Capt. Whitney also upset things considerably. This 
morning I took our transport out to an inspection by 



306 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

certain division authorities. You wouldn't recognize the 
company. We look more like a battery of artillery than 
anything else. Everything is carried in limbers. 

We are having a very showery week — the sun shin- 
ing and then suddenly a downpour of rain. Fritz left us 
alone last night, so slept uninterruptedly. I don't know 
why; perhaps he was short of ammunition. He will 
probably make up for it tonight. 

All the men from Summit are well. I have not seen 
Eddy ; in fact, I have seen but one or two companies of 
the regiment. We are scattered over a large area of 
ground. It is very difficult to find billets, and more dif- 
ficult yet to find a field for drill and camping purposes, 
owing to the fact that nearly every bit of ground is culti- 
vated, and fields that are not are pasture. 

I met Capt. Bates on the road this morning. I was 
glad to see him. He gave me all the news he had of 
Summit. He has received letters up to June 12th. The 
mayor seems to have got into a real rumpus with Hearst, 
and there is a threat to suppress the Summit Record. 
So you seem to be keeping things on the move. Send me 
the Summit Herald. 

I did not come through England, as you must know 
now from my letters. Rob did. I hope you have heard 
from him. Tell Walter to get on the job and write, and 
if Pop sees Otto let him tell him that I received his 
letter. 

Everything fine. Affectionately, 

Ken. • 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 307 

LETTER CXXXIV 

The People Quick to Understand and Patient 

Under the ''Slaughter'' of their Language. 

— Pleased with his Horse. — Baggage 

AND Outfit Recovered. 

No. 21. — July 12, 19 1 8. 
Dear Mother, Pop and Marj.: 

I received a letter from each of you today, two from 
Walter (which I was certainly glad to get) and one from 
Mrs. Austin, these letters dated June 8, 10 and 15. Am 
glad you are all well. 

Marj. is thinking that I am getting ahead of her in 
French. I am not; my knowledge of the French lan- 
guage is very limited. Here is a sample of Yankee 
French that I heard one of our men handing out to the 
woman who owns the farm on which we are billeted. 
She has a lot of hens which do not lay, and after a long 
harangue succeeded in conveying this meaning to the 
man. He said: "Qui, I compre. Beaucoup chick mal 
de mort." By which he meant: *'You have many chick- 
ens which are of no use; kill them." He emphasized 
this remark by drawing his finger significantly across his 
throat. To appreciate this, you should see the absolute 
confidence with which they get off stuff like this. The 
people listen with patience to this terrible slaughter of 
their language, and furthermore always seem to under- 
stand. I have no time to try and learn any French. 
People here understand either French or Dutch, or a 
mixture of these. 

It is awfully good to hear from home. I cannot be- 



308 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

gin to express in words just how much it means. Pop's 
letters are particularly fine, and worth a million. Mrs. 
Austin's letter was very fine indeed, written in the name 
of some organization of the church. It is a really good 
letter and much appreciated — so good that I feel impel- 
led to answer it. 

Marj.'s letter from Oyster Bay says she will finish 
her school work on the 28th. That is good, for now she 
will be with you, and I hope she stays home next Fall. 

I saw Eddy tonight for the first time. He has been 
turned down on his commission; no reason given.* I 
am sorry, for it would have meant so much to his 
mother. He says he does not want to write home and 
tell them. I talked the best I could to him. 

My lack of French has been a serious handicap, for I 
have been over so much of the country, and travelling 
in a very leisurely manner. I can read a little of it — 
know what ''Defence d'uriner" means, for instance. 
This is not a very genteel thing to write about, but it has 
an amusing side. The whole of France is plastered with 
these signs, particularly the cities. This became neces- 
sary, an indignant Frenchman told me, when the English 
Army began to appear in large numbers in French cities. 
The English,, it seems, shocked even the sense of prop- 
riety of the French in this particular, which is going 
some, as Pop will appreciate if he remembers Paris. In 
case English-speaking people should not understand, 
there are also mau}^ signs in a queer mixture of French 
and American slang. Don't know why I should write 
so much about such a subject, but it struck us all at first 
as a peculiarity. 

* This commission came along all right later on. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 309 

' I have a beautiful little chestnut mare to ride. She is 
a blooded anirnal and very high-strung, but gentle as a 
kitten. She is just out of the hospital, having been 
gassed. vShe has a wonderful gait, and is well broken as 
a saddle animal, the finest horse I have had yet. I will 
try and send a picture of her. She is going to come in 
fine on cold nights on the march, for I shall sleep beside 
her. 

Jun received some Summit Heralds, and I read in 
the issue of May 24 of my safe arrival in France, and of 
some other happenings. Mr. Franklin has certainly 
started things, and has put Summit on the map. Glad to 
meet here anyone I know. I think that I would even 

greet old man X with some degree of cordiality if 

I should meet him, it seems so good to meet anyone from 
home. 

This is a long letter, but I felt like writing tonight. 
It is now getting dark and I must stop. Jerry's big guns 
are beginning to register, which warns me that it is time 
to get below the level of things. ''Jerry" is the Cockney 
appelation for the Germans. 

Glad you connected up concerning the name of the 
transport. She is next to the biggest and finest. Will 
take Marj.'s advice and try and not go near a German. 
All I want to see of him is his back. We have had a solid 
week of rain. My new coat has been worth all I paid 
for it. I almost forgot to tell you my baggage miracu- 
lously turned up yesterday, after we were informed that 
all chance of us getting it was gone. I needed it badly. 

Love to all 

Ken. 



310 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

LETTER CXXXV 

The Grid System Explained. — A Thousand Things 
TO Tell About, 'Tf I Ever Get Back/' 

July 13, 1918. 
Dear Walter: 

Received your letters Nos. 2 and 3 today. They are 
the first I have received from you, and I cannot tell you 
how welcome they are. No. 2 is one of the best letters 
I have ever received from any one. 

Received two letters from Rob in the same mail with 
yours. He also speaks of Gene's* death, and evidently 
feels quite cut up about it. They were very great friends, 
as you know. It brings the war awfully close. I heard 
today that Paul Bradley had been killed, but have not 
been able to verify it from the casualty list. He appeared 
on it in June as being wounded, but not fatally. Ruford 
Franklin got his, too. He was terribly burned when his 
aeroplane took fire. He will recover. He has made a 
big name for himself over here by the sterling quality 
of his work. About six other men whom I know more 
or less have been either wounded or killed. 

I have been back with the company just a week. For 
my experiences in finding it, I will have to refer you to 
my letters home, which I have asked them to show 
you. 

Glad you went down and took a look at old Barnegat. 
You bet, Walter, a long vacation for us when I get back ! 
A cruise it will be, and I shall be able to navigate for us. 
My training on the subject has been most intensive, for, 
as you probably know, all of our work is done from a 

* LU Eugene P. Hubbard, Summit, N. J., killed in action March, 1918. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



311 



map, the like of which you have never seen. Every 
moA^e we make, we have to chart our course, so to speak. 
It was sHghtly confusing at first, for in Europe they use 
what is termed Grid north, and all compass variations, in 
figuring bearings, are converted into Grid bearings. The 
Grid line is a true north and south line, like a meridian, 







- 


%^*^^p^ 






1 I 

' 4 ' %0 


U 


ii*'»Bii^ ' "■""^'^fe ^fc " 









Kenneth Gow in his Boat on Barnegat Bay 



which runs through Brussels. At home, as you know, 
we use magnetic north, or, if we want to use true north, 
the compass variation is simply deducted from the mag- 
netic reading, which gives a true north bearing. But 
here, if we use a compass, we convert all of our magnetic 
bearings to Grid. If we have no compass, we take Grid 



312 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



bearings direct from our map by means of a protractor. 
On the move we have to resect our positions con- 
tinually; that is, ascertain our position on the ground 
when we don't know it on the map, or our position on 
the map when we don't know it on the ground. This is 

just what the mari- 
ner does. They had 
a terrible battle 
beating it into my 
bean, but it seeped 
through finally. It 
is wonderfully in- 
teresting work. So 
you and I, Walter, 
will go a-cruising 
as never before. 

Your letter from 
Cleveland re- 
minded me of Peel, 
and some one else 
also, now that I 
think of it. Give 
Peel my best and 
tell him to write. 
I wish he were over 
here with us. 

We get copiously sprinkled with shrapnel and shell at 
odd times, which adds to the zest of life here. Rob is 
now up right behind the lines. Our regiment is scattered 
over a wide area, some of them billeted and some 
camped. We are in shelter-tents. There are a dozen 




On Barnegat Bay 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 313 

things I would give a thousand francs to be able to tell 
you, but cannot and comply with the censorship regula- 
tions. If I ever get back, I am going to have enough to 
talk to you about for months. 

Our guns have just opened up on some Hun aero- 
planes as I write. Shells are bursting all around them, 
and they are climbing. This is an every-day occurrence. 
The company is in excellent shape, and everyone from 
Summit w^ell. Alan Eggers, Tommy O'Shea and Jun 
send their regards. Packages are ''defendu." 

I have the most wonderful little chestnut mare you 

ever saw. She is blooded, and has just come out of the 

hospital. She was gassed up at the front, but is now as 

sound as ever. 

Ken. 

LETTER CXXXVI 

An Aerial Combat. — A Summons to Appear Before 
THE British Chancery Court. 

July 14, 1918. 
Dear Marj.: 

I have just witnessed the most thrilling thing I have 
ever seen or hope to see, an aerial combat,* and I am 
going to tell you about it while my impressions are vivid. 
It happened just fifteen minutes ago. 

Looking up into the sky, we observed three Hun 
planes flying almost over our heads. While we watched 
two other planes suddenly appeared above them and 
headed almost straight down at them. The three scat- 
tered, and one of our planes went after two of the Ger- 

* Near Winnezeele. 



314 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

mans, who beat it like scared bats out of Hades. The 
other took on the remaining German right over our 
heads. There was a succession of ducking, diving, fall- 
ing and %ing upside down, nose dives, tail spins, and 
all the tactics of aeroplane fighting, such as you cannot 
imagine. The Hun one time got over our plane and dove 
straight at it, but he was out-manoeuvred in the neatest 
possible way. The other aviator threw his plane out of 
control and dropped head-over-tail for a thousand feet, 
then, suddenly righted his plane, shot up in the air again 
over the German, who was plunging straight down. The 
German straightened out, but our plane was above and 
behind him, and the aviator cut loose on the Hun and it 
was all over with Fritz. He dropped like a plummet. 

There was fighting in the air all night long last night 
right over us, so our sleep was interrupted considerably. 
Night flying must be a thrilling experience. 

Today is Bastile Day in France, and a holiday for 
everyone. Our army is joining in the celebration, but 
the fact that it is a holiday makes no difference with us 
up here. 

The enclosed* was delivered to me by mistake. I 
have taken it up with the British P. O. They say there is 
no use now in forwarding it ; so' I have written the attor- 
neys that their summons was delivered to the wrong Lt. 
Kenneth Gow. It was meant for a lieutenant of the 
same name in the British service. He could not be 
found, and it finally was forwarded to me. Pop may 
be interested. He might look up the family tree and see 
if there is any connection. It is an odd coincidence. 

' * A summons from the Court of Chancery, London, addressed to a Lt. 
Kenneth Gow, in the case of Gow vs. Gow. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 315 

We are to be relieved tomorrow morning, and will 

go away back of the lines. We will be separated from 

the regiment again. 

Love, 

Ken. 

LETTER CXXXVII 

The Low Country and Its Bogs. — Navigating the 

Transport. — Vile Beer and Worse Water. 

— A Typical French Earm. 

No. 22. — ^July 17, 1918. 
Dear Pop: 

We have been on the move for the last two days, 
and have now settled in a small hamlet* for a week any- 
way. In coming back we passed through country that is 
very interesting. I had to take our transport around an 
enormous swamp, f interlaced with canals, on a road built 
up on the marsh. The heat was terrific ; it reminded me 
of the Missouri Valley when we passed through it on 
our way to the Border, very hot and sultry. The humid- 
ity must have been one hundred per cent. The natives 
build their homes in the midst of all this water. Their 
foundations must be on artificial elevations; in most cases 
a large fill in the rear of the houses, with luxuriant gar- 
dens and a soil black as night. There are great peat 
bogs. Every house had a big plot of peat, cut and turned 
over to dry. They use boats, and the canals are their 
channels for transportation and conveyance. It is hard 
to conceive how such a life can be healthy, but it evi- 

* Etrehem, about ten kilometres northwest of St. Omer, west o£ Cassel. 
t At St. Momelin. 



316 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

dently is. I wondered if any of the dozen kids every 
home seems to have ever fall off the back porch and get 
drow^ned. 

The roads were terrible, as a result of incessant rain. 
I had the worst job I ever had in my life, moving my 
transport over them. Two mules and their driver went 
off a bridge on one occasion, and we lost a lot of precious 
time getting them out of the bog, which had to be done 
by block and fall. Another time a limber went the same 
way, but finally I brought the whole transport in. I 
simply have to get there, or the company does not eat. 

I always take a different route. I am given my 
destination and the rest is up to me. I have map and 
compass, and that is all. If I am in doubt at any time, 
I just get out my instruments and resect and then inter- 
sect my position. That is, I find my position on the map 
when I know it on the ground, or find it on the ground 
when I know it on the map. If I don't know either, I 
have to employ another method. All this is just about 
what the navigator of a ship does when he wants to 
place himself on his chart. Absolutely everything is fig- 
ured from maps which are furnished us, and are the 
most wonderfully helpful things I have ever seen. 

We cleared out of our last place* in good shape. 
The organization next to ours had twenty- four casual- 
ties. I was just a few hundred feet from them. We are 
intact. 

The accounts we read before we sailed of German 
atrocities were not exaggerated a bit. I have seen the 
evidences of them with my own eyes, and have been in 
places of absolutely no military importance while the 

* St. Momelin, near Nieurlet, about five kilometres from St. Omer. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 317 

Hun was bombing them at night from aeroplanes. All 
towns are systematically harassed. The people sleep in 
the fields at night, and come back into the towns again 
during the day. Old men, the women and the boys are 
working the farms. 

Here at our present station are the largest farms I 
have seen in France, and, if possible to judge in a coun- 
try where the farming is universally so good, they are 
the best. At my billet there is a man seventy-nine years 
old who limps off to work at five o'clock in the morning 
and works until 8.30 or 9.00 at night. This is typical; 
they all do it, men and women. All farms have fine 
herds, but I cannot make out the breed. They are larger 
and heavier than Jerseys, but somewhat similar in type. 
I have seen hundreds of them, and they are without ex- 
ception of one color, a very dark reddish brown, without 
any distinctive marks. They may be Guernseys, but I 
doubt it, and they may be Brown Swiss. You can per- 
haps tell from the description. 

The weather is the hottest we have struck in France, 
and very muggy, due to the low altitude. Capt. Andrews 
is fine, and very efficient. He is the famous Ham An- 
drews of Princeton, the football player. I saw him play 
once in a game between Princeton and Yale. He is 
twenty-nine. 

The water problem here is very serious — that is, to 
find water fit to cook with and to drink. We have to 
haul it for miles. This is true nearly all over the coun- 
try. We drink a lot of beer simply because drinking- 
water is so scarce. There is any quantity of beer and 
vin ordinaire. It is vile stuff. 



318 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

The country in this area is luxuriant, with everything 
growing rank, due to the warrn rains. I am decidedly 
taken with the country and its people. The house where 
I am billeted* is a tremendous construction of two 
stories, built around a big court-yard, forming a com- 
plete square. In the middle of this square or court is the 
dung-heap. The buildings all run together, and include 
the living-quarters, help's quarters, barn, granary, tool- 
house, etc., also the hen-house and pigsty. Every door 
opens out into the court. The children walk in and out 
of the house and my room with an air of impudent fam- 
iliarity. It's a great life. I would Hke to write lots 
more, Pop, but the light is failing very fast. 

We have left the regiment and are miles away from 
it. Mama can tell Mrs. Jones that Roger is fine, and 
the best soldier in the company. Am exceedingly well, 
and awfully glad to hear that you are all the same. 

Affectionately, 

Kenneth. 

LETTER CXXXVIII 

Detached on Range Work. — On British Rations. 

No. 23. — ^July 20, 1918. 
Dear Mama: 

It is late Saturday afternoon, and we have finished 
work for the day. I spent all day yesterday on the range 
very profitably, and will probably go on it again tomor- 
row. I haven't the slightest idea how long we will be 
here. I have not had a letter since we left the regiment, 
and probably will not get any until we rejoin it. Our 

* At Etrehem. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



319 



company has been with the regiment only one week dur- 
ing our entire tour of duty overseas. It seems to be an 
assumed fact that we eventually will be detached perma- 
nently and corpsed. However, that has not become offi- 
cial, and we are still a part of the old regiment. 

The officers (there are 
only three of us, Capt. 
Andrews, our U. S. R., a 
second lieutenant tempo- 
rarily attached, and my- 
self) are eating at a 
farmhouse a short dis- 
tance from our billet. We 
furnish our own rations, 
which are drawn from 
the company, and consist 
chiefly of beef or mutton, 
potatoes (new ones now), 
ham, beans, bacon, some- 
times fresh pork, etc. We 
have all the jam we want, 
mostly marmalade, dam- 
son, plum or apple, all put 
up by Keiler, of Dundee 
and London. You see we 

are on the British ration. One of the women cooks for 
us, and our meals are just as fine as one would want 
anywhere. We have fresh butter every day, made on 
the farm, which is the finest I have ever eaten ; also lots 
of cheese made by themselves, and their own brew of 
beer. We have salads too, and the farm furnishes us 




Lt. Eugene P. Hubbard, 
Summit, N. J. 
(See page 310.) 



320 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

with fresh eggs for breakfast every morning. The 
French can fry potatoes such as I have never tasted be- 
fore, real French fried. I ahnost forgot to mention the 
turnips. I remember Pop talking of how turnips tasted 
in Scotland. I never really cared for them until I ate 
them here, and now I am quite crazy to get them. Until 
} ou have tasted a European turnip, you don't know what 
turnips should taste like. Everything is most pleasant 
and agreeable here. The water shortage is the only thing, 
and that is more or less typical of the entire country. 

You have undoubtedly read of the brilliant success of 
the latest French offensive. It is grand news, and we 
are intently watching our sources of information for 
news of a farther advance. 

I am sitting in a billet, an old stable, where we keep 
cur picketline material and harness, writing this letter. 
Roger is sitting beside me at the same thing. It is rain- 
ing very hard, w^hich it manages to do every day, or 
rather at least once every twenty- four hours. I am feel- 
ing fine, but all-fired tired. Running a company with but 
three of^cers is hard w^ork. 

With love. 

Ken. 

LETTER CXXXIX 

i\BOUT Water, Wine and the Y. M. C. A. 

France, July 20, 19 18. 
Dear Walter: 

I wrote you a long letter about a week ago. For 
subsequent happenings, which were certainly interesting, 
would refer you to Nos. 24, 25, and 26 to home. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 321 

We are here for range work. When that is finished 
I haven't the sUghtest idea as to where our next move 
will be. We are in one of the most fertile parts of 
France I have yet been in. The very things that I feel 
most like writing you about are ''defendu." We are 
again detached from the regiment. In fact, the company 
has been with the regiment but one week during its en- 
tire tour of duty overseas. 

Heard from Rob again, and he is O. K. I have been 
told that Bradley, instead of being killed, was awarded 
the Croix de Guerre for conspicuous bravery. Everyone 
in the company from Summit is well. 

I wish you were over here with me. It is wonder- 
fully interesting, absorbing and thrilling. If I come out 
I know that I shall never crave for more excitement, and 
will probably be willing to stay put. 

Roger Jones is sitting beside me, and he has asked me 
to be remembered to you. The water question here is 
very serious. It is almost impossible to obtain water 
that is fit to cook with and drink, and we have to haul it 
for miles. Am billeted very comfortably, and living on 
the fat of the land. There is no water to drink, but all 
of the beer and vin ordinaire that one wants. It is vile 
stuff, though. In southern, central and western France 
the wines are fine. Each locality is famous for its par- 
ticular wine — the Bordeaux country, the Bourgogne or 
Burgundy districts, the Champagne country, etc. Excel- 
lent champagne can be had for ten francs, or about 
$1.90, per quart bottle. It can be had cheaper than that, 
and you can pay as high as twenty francs occasionally, 
but this is exceptional. If by any chance through your 



322 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

work you have the opportunity to come to France, jump 
at it. It will be a wonderful experience. 

The Y. M. C. A. is doing a fine work here. They 
have their huts everywhere, and are often the only people 
who can supply cigarettes. It is a serious thing to be out 
of cigarettes when you want one. I think we would all 
stand hours of discomfort and exposure for one smoke. 

Write all that you can, for you cannot appreciate how 
welcome your mail is. Give my very best to your fam- 
ily, and my love to L. 

Kenneth. 

lette:r cxl 

A Stirrup Note. 

No. 24. — July 21, 19 18. 
Dear Marj.: 

I had planned to write you a long letter today (Sun- 
day), but it is impossible, for I have been ordered to 
report at another town some miles from here by four 
o'clock, and I won't be back until late tonight, so I am 
scribbling this note while the orderly is saddling my 
mare. 

It rained all morning, but has cleared up beautiful 
and cool this afternoon, so I am going to have a delight- 
ful ride through some grand farm country — fields and 
fields of grain and turnips, which dip into valleys and 
rise in long, gentle slopes on the other side and disappear 
over the top of the next hill. How I wish that you might 
see it ! We have nothing like it. No wonder the French 
have put up such a fight for their country. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 323 

Enclosed are some films I cannot get printed here. 
Have them printed and give a set to Mrs. W. and send 
back a set to me. Most of them were snapped when we 
weren't looking. You can easily spot me, for I am the 
biggest of the gang — in fact, I am bigger than I ever 
was. The other men are Willis and men from the divi- 
sion at the school, all machine-gunners. 

We lost another officer today, and now there are only 
the captain and myself. Some work! I wish you were 
going with me on this ride. 

Ken. 

LETTER CXLI 

Hiking. 

No. 25. — July 24, 1918. 
Dear Pop: 

I haven't written since Sunday, for we have been on 
the move until today, arriving here* about 2 P. M. I 
am very busy, as I am in command of the company and 
am the only officer with it. The captain left yesterday 
for a short time. Moving a company around in France 
is a big task for one man, there are so many things to be 
seen to. We are moved on a schedule which must be 
kept to. There are a hundred and one regulations gov- 
erning the march of A. E. F. troops which must be en- 
forced, and a continual watch must be kept to insure 
compliance with them. Billeting must be seen to, you 
must continually watch your map and compass, etc. 

Yesterday it rained hard all day, the roads were bad, 
and when we pulled in last night we were drenched to 

* Kickeput Crossroads, near Wormhoudt. 



324 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



the skin and covered with mud. We are well forward 
again. 

Must stop for this time, as I am so tired. 

Love to Mama and Marj. 

Ken. 




Going to the Front. 



LETTER CXLII. 

A French Home. — Agricultural Operations.— A 
Division Show^ at the Front. 

No. 26 — July 26, 19 1 8. 
Dear Mother: 

Your letter mailed Tune 26 arrived last night. I 
received a .letter from Rob, who has been up to the 
front and out again, so we are both in the thick of it now. 
I go up again in a short time for a period (am back now), 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 325 

then back again for twelve days, and then up again for 
another period, and so on. 

We are now at a large farm,* the biggest I have yet 
seen, and a very prosperous one — an enormous big house, 
with a fine Thibaut piano, and a young girl of fourteen 
or fifteen who plays very well. I heard her last night 
practising, and she finally started Chopin's (I think it is 
his) Fifth Nocturne, the composition Marj. used to play 
when she was taking lessons. I went in and she played 
for me for an hour and a half. She played several pieces 
that Marj. used to play, and it all reminded me so much 
of her. The atmosphere of these French homes which 
we walk into is most pleasant, peaceful and homelike. 

They are thrashing their grain with flails, and are also 
treating their flax, one of the most interesting things I 
have seen. The flax-stalks are bundled and cast into a 
pond, where they remain for a period of eight days. 
This softens them and starts a kind of disintegration. 
When they are taken out the stalks pull apart in fine 
silky threads. If you twist them, they make a very strong 
string, even when they are still wet. There are a dozen 
other things which are so new and odd to me, yet are 
thousands of years old. It has all been a wonderful 
education to those of us who are at all interested in things 
in general. We live right with the people, and so get so 
much out of our stay in any vicinity. One could never 
see what we have seen on a tourist's trip. 

I read that Cape Cod had been shelled. You have 
read of the wonderful advance made by the French and 

* La Grande Ferme, Kickeput Crossroads, near Wormhoudt, north of 
Oudezeele and northeast of Cassel, near Belgian border. 



326 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

Americans on the Marne. This you probably don't know, 
that Gen. Foch used our men on the flanks of his counter- 
attack. This was a signal honor, for the most important 
and dangerous parts of a line in an advance are the flanks. 
By the time that you receive this letter, there ought to be 
good news from another point. 

Rob, as near as I can figure things out, is on the eastern 
front, somewhere in the Vosges sector. This is simply 
doped out by the knowledge of where his division is and 
by adding a few other things. 

Have received my first letter from Aunt A., also a 
long one and a good one from Mr. Geistweit. Thank 
both of them. If Pop sees Mr. G., let him tell him how 
much I appreciate his letter, and will write as soon as I 
can. 

The captain and I went to a division show last night, 
the same men and company you saw in ''You Know Me, 
Al." They were excellent. These men are doing fine 
work. There were between two or three hundred British 
officers at the show, and they certainly enjoyed it. It is 
a strange thing to see this organization performing at a 
point where a ''Jack Johnson" or some similar bird might 
land at any minute and spread performers, stage and 
audience all over the landscape. 

They had a lot of new things. The man who played 
the tragedian in "You Know Me, Al" was particularly 
good, also the crazy nut who came on in" the last act, if 
you remember, and got off a lot of rapid-fire nonsense. 

It rains nearly every day — the sun shines, then sud- 
denly comes a downpour. No matter how clear it may be 
in the morning, you don't dare stir out without a rain- 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 327 

coat. Al* is back with the company, arrived yesterday, 
and just now asked me to send his regards to you. 
With love, 

Ken. 

LETTER CXLIII 

How IT Feels to be Under Fire. 

July 27, 1918. 
Dear Mr. Geistweit & George: 

Your most welcome letter of June 24 arrived yester- 
day. It certainly was a surprise to learn that twenty-four 
men from the plant are in service. It is great. The men 
you mention I know, of course. 

We have had our first baptism of fire, and we go in 
and come out for our rest-periods on a regular schedule. 
So you see we are in the thick of it. I wish I could tell 
you how I felt when the first big shell came at me — passed 
just over my head and detonated a few yards back of 
me. I could only stand as though petrified, and all of my 
past misdeeds rushed through my mind. You have a 
queer feeling down in the pit of your stomach, and you 
would just as soon lose your last meal. I had an almost 
uncontrollable desire to stick my head in a hole in the 
ground. After the first one, the others are not so bad, 
and pretty soon you don't mind them. You can hear 
those big ones coming for a long way, and have time to 
speculate as to whether one of them has your name 
tagged to it, or lay down a bet where she is going to hit. 
The worst things of all are the aerial torpedoes used by 
aeroplanes. Those d n things always get our goats. 

* Lt. Harry. 



328 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

In the lines you are not bothered with them, but behind 
the Hues we are apt to get them every night. They 
come, and that buzzzz over your head, and the knowledge 
that each machine can let go a ton of high explosive at 
once and blow you into Kingdom Come is a goat-getter. 
They rarely do much harm, but the concussion when these 
things detonate is awful. A little while ago I was knocked 
flat by the force of the explosion of one. It is a great 
war, Mr. Geistweit. 

Meanwhile we are all having a fine time, learning 
more than any of us thought we could absorb, and are 
eating very well. It is a wonderful experience. You 
have read of the wonderful success of the French and 
American troops. You may not know it, but Gen. Foch 
used our men on the flanks of his counter-attack. This 
was a signal honor, for in the defense, the attack, ad- 
vance or a retiring movement the flanks are the most im- 
portant and vital points. 

It is going to take a llong time, Mr. G., and men and 
men and then more men. But Germany is going down as 
sure as there is justice in the world. I have witnessed 
with my own eyes, so many times that it makes me sick 
to think of it, the results of Germany's wanton destruc- 
tiveness and butchery. Have seen places of no military 
value bombed, where the only sufferers were women, old 
men and children. I think that those of us who ultimately 
get back to the States will be a hundred years older than 
our actual years. That is all for this one. Will write as 
regularly as I can, and will' certainly look for your letters. 
Best to both of you, and remember me to Mrs. W. 

Kenneth Gow. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 329 

LETTER CXLIV 
At the Front and Running the Transport. 

No. 27 — Aug. 2, 19 1 8. 
Dear Mother, Pop and Marj.: 

Just a few lines to let you know I am O. K., and busy 
as can be. This is written from the front.* Heavy shell- 




A Trench at the Front. 



ing and a perfect hell of noise, I have discovered, are not 
going to affect my ears. That is certainly one thing to 
be thankful for. My nerves are not settled yet just as 
they ought to be. The first time I was terribly nervous ; 
in other words, positively frightened, and do not mind 
admitting it. 

* East Poperinghe Line. 



330 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

I have two duties. I alternate between running the 
transport and commanding a platoon. When with the 
platoon I am comparatively safe, for I am in the trenches 
all the time. With the transport it is a bit different. I 
run up to the guns our rations and supplies at night from 
a point away back in the rear. This is a thrilling and 
exciting job; for, as you know, and as Capt. Beith ex- 
plained in his lecture in Summit, all communicating roads 
and thoroughfares are harassed continually by the Boche 
guns, and it is quite a game of tag ducking them. I run 
this job on horseback. It is great. Jerry doesn't do much 
damage with his shells. You can hear them coming, and, 
after the first one lands, know just what he is shooting at, 
and then you proceed to clear out. 

Eddy has been commissioned and sent to another 
division. Roger is now our first sergeant. It came to 
him as a reward for faithful and efficient service. Tell 
his mother, and tell her we are all proud of him. 

A big mail came in, but none from you, owing, I 
think, to the fact that you are directing it to a P. O. which 
is miles and miles from me. Letters are apt to be a bit 
irregular now. 

Love to you all, and my best to Walter. 

Ken. 

LETTER CXLV 
Running the Transport Under Fire. 

Aug. 3, 1918. 
Dear Walter: 

This comes to you from right behind the guns. We 
are in it right up to the neck. I have two duties which I 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 331 

alternate between : commanding a platoon in the trenches 
and running the transport. Am on one for a period of 
days, and then on the other for a similar period. When 
in with the guns I am more or less safe, but the transport 
is another thing. By this is meant running up rations 
and supplies for the guns from our base in the rear. This 
is all done by horse transport and limbers, and in the dead 
of night. My worst trip was last night. The Boche 
harasses all roads and communications with his artillery 
continuously, and we have to run this gauntlet of fire. 
Last night he let loose with everything he had — whizz- 
bangs, shrapnel, high explosive and gas right on us, and 
we were in a perfect hell for fifteen minutes. Ther he 
let up for half an hour, then started in again with shrap- 
nel. This is mean stuff to have breaking about your ears, 
but it does very little harm unless you are unlucky enough 
to have one detonate beside you. It is a great experience, 
and surely this is a man's war. The infernal din of battle 
is a terrible thing. All hell seems suddenly let loose. My 
ears are O. K., which is a consolation, as many men get 
their eardrums punctured by the detonations. My nerves, 
too, have settled. At first it was fierce, and I don't mind 
admitting to the worM that I was positively frightened, 
and my legs wanted to go the other way. Perhaps they 
would have, only I was on a horse. She reared up straight 
at every explosion, cut up high, and this took a lot of my 
attention. 

Our men are doing wonderfully well. Met Major 
Gardner, my former captain, coming out with his outfit 
for a rest. They did great work, and are enjoying a 
(Remainder of this letter was never received.) 



332 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



LETTER CXLVI 
From the Trenches. 

No. 28. — Sunday, Aug. 4, 1918. 
Dear Mother, Pop and Marj.: 

I am sitting in our forward company headquarters, 
and, having everything well in hand, am taking some 
time to write. I have just returned from a reconnaissance 

of our position, which 
takes about five hours. We 
are hard at work improv- 
ing everything we can, 
and, of course, we are 
much interrupted by active 
enemy shelling, but never- 
theless are making fine 
progress. 

It is all wonderfully in- 
teresting and fascinating. 
There is no need of me 
writing a long letter about 
a day's routine. It has all 
been done so much better 
than I can ever hope to do 
by Ian Hay, whose book you 
all have read. His descrip- 
tions are very accurate. 
The company is the healthiest crowd I have ever 
seen. There is some little trouble with cooties. The 
weather is very warm, with a lot of rain. This makes 
the trenches a mire of mud. I am returning to our base 




Lt. 



© Underwood & Underwood 

Paul Helmuth 
Gadebusch 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 333 

in the rear tonight, and will come up again tomorrow. 
So it goes. I am getting to know this part of Europe 
like the back of my hand. This is absolutely essential 
on account of the night operations and activity. 

We received our first news today of the entrance of 
French troops into Soissons, also of the cleaning out of 
the Bois de Cierges by Americans. This is wonderfully 
encouraging, and we all wish we were down there. 

Helmuth rejoined us last night,* after an absence of 
over a month. It was the first time I had seen him since 
leaving Camp Wadsworth last April. I certainly was 
glad to see him. Everyone from Summit is well. Am 
in tip-top shape myself. 

Things are beginning to whoop up, so I know the 
regular evening ''strafe" is on, so will stop. 

Love to you all. 

Ken. 

LETTER CXLVII 

Learn or Die. — American Rifle Fire Surprises the 

Germans. — Queer Freaks of Exploding 

StiELLS. — Recommended for 

Promotion. 

No. 29. — Aug. 5, 19 1 8. 
Dear Pop: 

1 am back at the company base for a two days' rest, 
after which I am going forward again. I am dead tired 
yet, even though I had about ten hours' sleep this morn- 
ing. I had only nine hours' sleep in fifty-five hours in the 
lines. We are learning fast. The circumstances won't 

*Aug. 3, at Beauvorde. 



334 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

permit of one's not learning. When gas comes over, for 
instance, we have learned that there are just two kinds 
of people, the quick and the dead, and we are all num- 
bered among the quick in getting on our gas-masks. 

A great majority of the Hun shells which were 
hurled at us were badly directed, and about twenty per 
cent, of them were defective, ''duds," as they are called, 
or shells which fail to detonate. We fire twenty shells 
to the Boche's one during every twenty-four hours. He 
is unquestionably running short, and evidently finds it 
necessary to conserve his material for his supreme ef- 
forts. 

Today begins the fifth year of the war, and, I pray, 
the last. It has commenced auspiciously with the com- 
bined French and American success on the Soissons- 
Rheims line. It begins to look as though this salient 
can be straightened out with very little effort. The super- 
iority of American rifle-fire is making itself felt. The 
Germans do not understand it. When they come over 
the top they are met with volleys of accurate rifle-fire 
which are continuous. In going back they get the same 
thing, and continue to get it as long as they are in sight. 
This is new to them, for both the French and British, in 
their frantic rush to train their troops in the handling 
of the hand and rifle grenade, and in the bayonet, neg- 
lected to a great extent musketry training, which is just 
as important now as in our Civil War. 

A lot of humorous things happen during the occupa- 
tion of a trench system. Here are two of them,* and 
remember when you read them that truth is stranger than 
fiction. A man was sent out from our company head- 

* These incidents happened when they were on the East Poperinghe Line. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 335 

quarters to dig a sink, or hole for refuse, and he was 
prowling around wondering where the dickens he would 
dig it, and probably wasting precious time cursing his 
luck at getting sent on such a detail. Then, with the roar 
of an express train, a Boche shell came sailing through 
the air and dropped only ten feet away from him. He 
flattened out on the ground, and, after the explosion, 
dug himself out from under the dirt which was piled on 
him, came in to headquarters and reported the completion 
of his detail. The shell was a 9.2 in. and made a hole 
six feet deep and fifteen feet across. Thus Fritz dug 
our sink for us, and it cost him about $800. The same 
thing happened at one of our emplacements. We were 
ordered to build, or rather to dig, a new shell-proof 
shelter, as some gun positions had been changed and the 
old one was too far away from the guns. After a lot 
of consideration and careful study, the new site was 
selected, taped out and camouflaged, and the necessary 
orders issued to proceed with the work the next night. 
Two hours before work began the Boche started his 
blasted evening ''strafe." Two shells landed within the 
tape on the site of the proposed shelter and made all the 
excavation necessary in about one second. This cost him 
$1,600 and saved us sore backs and blistered hands. All 
that remained to be done was to clean out a little, then 
the foundations were started and two nights' work fin- 
ished it — heavy corrugated elephant iron lowered in — 
and we had our shelter. So it goes. We have some dis- 
comfort from mud and cooties. We will have a short 
period more, and then back for a blessed rest ! 

I am feeling fine. A recommendation for my promo- 



336 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

tion to first lieutenant went in to headquarters this morn- 
ing. It has been approved by the division machine gun 
officer, so the promotion will come along in due time. 
So you see I am extremely happy. 

Everyone from Summit in the company is O. K. In- 
cidentally, we are no longer in the regiment, but are part 
of a provisional battalion. 

Love to Mama and Marj. 

Ken. 

LETTER CXLVIII 

Running the Transport in Darkness, Fog and 
Shell-Fire.- -The Tales of Romance Surpassed. 

No. 30 — Aug. 8, 19 1 8. 
Dear Pop: 

I am well, and as comfortable as may be. I am 
working hard and getting very little sleep. I leave at 
seven P. M. for the front line with the transport, and 
get back, as a rule, about four A. M. the next morning. 
I was a little later getting in this morning, because I was 
held up by the shelling of a certain area and dared not 
take a chance and try to run it. My worst trip was last 
night. The roads are in a terrible condition, and we were 
caught in a heavy fog through which you could not see 
two feet. I avoid all the main roads I can and take to 
tracks and trails, in fact anything that I can- get a limber 
over. I use a road now which winds around shell-holes 
through a country once fertile, but now a desolate and 
depressing waste, with every town and house a total 
wreck. I used to read of the cowboy post in the early 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 337 

days of the West, and of the courier service of the Indian 
wars, the Revolution and later the Civil War, and wished 
that such thrilling experiences could happen again. But 
none of these, even as painted by a writer of fiction to 
impress the vivid imagination of a boy, compares with 
running a transport up to and back from the lines in this 
highly and scientifically organized war. 

I am gradually developing a bitterness towards the 
Boche which I did not think would ever be developed in 
me. The British have it, even though you are told and 
read that it does not exist. The Boche has already killed 
some of our fine officers and men of the division. 

I am eating extremely well at a British officers' mess 
when I am at the base. I am going in tomorrow to take 
charge of a platoon. Everyone from home is well. Eddy, 
as I wrote you, was commissioned and transferred to 
another division, Helmuth is back, and Lt. Harry has 
been transferred to a desk job, through physical incapac- 
ity for duty in the line. His transfer is a distinct loss to 
the company. 

I must stop. Pop, and get things ready for my night's 
run. Our men are doing fine work and delivering every- 
thing that was expected of them. Have Walter read this 
letter. Love to Mama and Marj. 

Ken. 



338 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

LETTER CXLIX 

A Tribute to the British. — The Bagpipers. — The 

Scottish Regiments. — Narrow Escapes. — 

The Progress and Prospects of the 

War. — An Offensive Attack. 

No. 31 — Aug. II, 19 1 8. 
Dear Mother: 

We are just about at the end of our tour of duty in 
the hne. I will be very busy for the next two days, 
so am taking advantage of the present opportunity to 
write. 

We are associated with the British, and find them a 
fine lot of men. They do everything they can to make us 
comfortable, and give us all the assistance they possibly 
can in the way of instruction. I am coming to the point 
where I have a great admiration for the fighting and 
striking qualities of Tommy Atkins. They have had the 
worst front to hold on the whole line. I know, for I am 
here wallowing in the mud with them. However they 
could have stopped the Boche in 19 14, and forced him 
back in 191 5, with the comparatively few troops they had 
here is almost a mystery. This is something the world 
does not know yet. In studying the map and the battle 
line, and actually participating in the fighting along this 
line, I have a thorough understanding of its main tactical 
features, and every bit of territory held by the British is 
in itself a monument to the gallantry, efiiciency, and bull- 
dog tenacity of that first British Army. I do not under- 
stand, now that I have seen them, the prejudice against 
them back home, a prejudice which I almost shared my- 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 339 

self, due mostly to the fact that I had met a few English- 
men whom I have now discovered were not typical and 
caused me to sort of lose my perspective. 

The English and Canadians do not like each other. 
The same holds true with the Australians, but they all 
pull together in the mutual cause. The English and 
Scotch get along together finely. One English quarter- 
master sergeant told me the Scotch were all right, with 
the exception of their bagpipes, which they must have 
with them always. As he said himself: ''Hi cawnt staund 
their blawsted pipes, with their bloody drone. Hit always 
mikes me want to 'eave a 'arf a brick at the drum- 
major." 

Back at our base there are several bands of pipes 
and drums, and they strut up and down the parade 
ground playing until I find it hard to stand still. I love 
to listen to them. They bring one up standing when they 
come swinging along, and they seem to forget where they 
are, why they are here and everything else. I can't think 
of an appropriate word to describe their playing unless it 
be fierceness, for that is the impression they give. They 
are members of famous regiments which I remember 
Pop speaking of when I was a kid, and all the more inter- 
esting to me for knowing something of their history and 
traditions. They are a grand sight coming down the 
parade ground, with their heads up, their long, easy stride 
and every kilt swinging in rhythm. The Scotch are the 
sturdiest troops here, and everyone with a drop of Scotch 
blood in his veins is proud of that fact when these 
magnificent regiments march by. I wish I could tell 



340 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

you who they are, but that is against the censorship 
regulations.* 

I think I must be the luckiest man in the army. To 
date I have ridden my transport in twelve successive days 
a total of 220 miles, half of it through shell-fire, effected 
all of my reliefs, always got in on time with the rations 
and supplies for the men in the line, and have succeeded 
in conducting men and guns in safety to and from the 
lines. The horse next to mine was wounded on one oc- 
casion, and at another time the limber I was riding beside 
was hit in four places. At one time, standing on one 
spot, eight shells landed within a thirty-yard radius, and 
all of the eight were ''duds" — that is, failed to detonate. 
All of this has been done in the darkness of night, and 
does not include my daylight perambulations, which I 
haven't kept track of. I have but two more trips up to 
the line during the present tour of duty, and then we will 
be through for a little while. 

You have undoubtedly read Lloyd George's speech on 
the commencement of the fifth year of the war. The tone 
of everyone is very hopeful now, on the continued suc- 
cesses of the Allies at Amiens, on the Somme and the 
Aisne. The Hun has made a temporary stand on the 

* The Gordon Highlanders, the Royal Scots Greys, the King's Own Scottish 
Borderers, the Highland Light Infantry, the Cameron Highlanders, the Black 
Watch and the Liverpool Scottish were all represented on this front. 

Five hundred pipers died in the British armies during the war; six hundred 
were wounded. The Gordons played "War cr Peace," at Waterloo, and the 
Gordons played it again at the Battle of the Somme. Piper Richardson played 
"The Deil in the Kitchen," at Regina Trench, when the Canadians were bomb- 
ing the German dug-outs. A British unit crossed the Palestine frontier with 
pipers striking up "Blue Bonnets Over the Border," and many a regiment 
packed up in the early dawn to the tune of "Bundle and Go." One player was 
awarded the Victoria Cross for piping his men out of gas-filled trenches at Loos. 
The Black Watch, the Seaforth Highlanders, the Tyneside and London Scot- 
tish, the Canadian Kilties, all went into action to the accompaniment of bag- 
pipes, which adapted themselves better to the trenches than other music. 




Four of the Summmit (N. J.) Boys Who Gave Their Lives in 

THE War. 

Corpora] Philip M. Drabble, Sergt. Wm. W. Drabble, Nicholas 

Eugene Kelly, Lt. Oscar Hellquist. 



342 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

Vesle, but he will have to go back over the Aisne, par- 
ticularly as he is being pressed so hard between Morlan- 
court and Montdidier. He is attempting to get his vast 
stores out, a great part of which he has already lost. 
Military experts here say Foch's drive was one of the 
most brilliant and tactically sound attacks in all military 
history. The Boche won't be able to deliver again any 
such offensive as that of March 21, which almost carried 
him to Paris. 

The German object, of course, was to cut in between 
the French and British Armies and smash the British. In 
this he almost succeeded, for the British were just about 
all in. This may be hard for you to believe 3,000 miles 
away, but it is true. The battering they had got was 
more than human beings can stand. That was the reason 
for the sudden rush of American troops overseas. They 
were rushed into the line, and they have made good. The 
Boche lost his last opportunity, thanks again to the bull- 
dog spirit of the British Army and the supreme leader- 
ship of Foch. 

Now things have switched around, and some indica- 
tions of a settlement are looked for this winter. If they 
don't appear, this ''blimy" old war will go on for another 
year, I suppose. Germany must be wofully short of raw 
material ; in fact, we know she is ; and she has a thunder- 
ing big job on her hands to keep up the morale of her 
army. We need aeroplanes to carry demoralization and 
destruction into the heart of Germany and shake to its 
foundations the morale of the entire country. Nothing 
is so terribly demoralizing as an air raid. I speak from 
experience. These blasted things get my wind up always. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 343 

I have seen and experienced an attack.* I wish I 
could describe it to you, but I am afraid it is beyond 
me, the magnitude of the thing is so great and the in- 
dividual's part so small. In fact, mine was purely passive. 
Silence reigned supreme for hours before the zero hour, 
the time for operations to begin. At the zero hour to the 
second, as I was looking at my watch, down went our 
barrage. The earth trembled and the sky was illuminated 
with a brilliant, weird light, caused by the muzzle flashes 
of hundreds of guns of calibres ranging from three inch 
to fourteen inch, rifles and howitzers. The din is in- 
describable. I thought of the Boche over in his trenches 
being blasted out in pieces by tons of high explosive. The 
barrage was lifted and the infantry went over the top. A 
sudden cessation of the artillery fire, the sound of hun- 
dreds of machine guns and the detonations of hand gren- 
ades and bombs, and then the signal flashed into the 
air, ''Objective reached." Then the S. O. S. signal, and 
down came our barrage again to protect our consolida- 
tion. The first minute the barrage came down at the 
opening of the attack the Boche, of course, got his wind 
up and shot dozens of star shells into the air, lighting 
up the whole country for miles around. That is the best 
I can do. I can understand now why men who had been 
in action here and came to the States as instructors could 
not describe an attack if they were asked about it. The 
thing is so tremendous that one's mind simply cannot 
grasp it. It just can't be done. 

This has been a long letter, mother, and I have really 
taken too much time. I hope you are all welli I received 
your last letter a good while ago, and none from Walter 

* By the 41st and 6th British Divisions near Mont Kemmel. 



344 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

in nearly a month. Something wrong again with the 
mails. Have Walter read my letter, as usual. Tell him 
if he doesn't write I shall wring his neck when I get home. 
Have only about twenty days more, when I shall have 
seven days' leave coming to me, which I shall probably 
not get. 

Love to you all. 

Ken. 



M 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 345 




THE PRACTISING PIPERS AT FINS.* 

{Reprinted by permission of the Author and of "The New York 

Tiniest) 

Oh, the practising pipers at Fins ! 

'Twas a dull, dripping day when we met them. 

We were waiting a call at the first crack of day, 
When beside our brown billets they started to 
play. 
Can we ever forgive or forget them? 

The squealing, appealing to bandy-legged Jock, 
Set our nerves all on edge by the discordant 
shock. 



* The town of Fins is in the vSomme district, about eight miles northwest of 
Peronne. F Company of the 11th Engineers, of which the writer of the above 
poem was a member, had a camp here in the Fall of 1917, prior to the first 
attack on Cambrai. The famous "pick and shovel" fight, in which this company 
took part, Nov. 30th, 1917, was at Gouzeaucourt, about two and a half miles 
north of Fins. 

Picture of pipers by courtesy of Dr. MacDougal, The Caledonian. 



346 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

Oh, the practising pipers at Fins! 
The kitten-Hke women of Hades ! 

Melody varies in fancy and theme, 
But the Yank understands not the Highlander's 
scream ; 
'Tis uncouth, like the dress of these ladies. 

'Trom the moaning and groaning from 

morning 'till night," 
Said the Yankee, ''no wonder these devils can 
fight!" 



Oh, the practising pipers at Fins! 
The music torrential and bitter ! 

'Tis no piping of Pan by the woodland and 

rush — 
The harmonious note of the evening thrush; 
'Tis the song of the bayonets aglitter ; 

'Tis dreaming and screaming of conquest and 

blood — 
Victorious passion let loose like a flood. 



Oh, the practising pipers at Fins ! 

The music of stern consolation! 

The high, strident strains of militant men, 
With the crash and the cadence recurring 
again — 
The Purpose — the Soul of a nation. 

In battle, the rattle of rifle fire there 

Is lost in the shriek of a wild Highland air. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 347 

Oh, the practising pipers at Fins ! 

The call of the wounded and dying — 

The song of the Scotchman until his last 

breath, 
Of flirtation with Life, and of banter with 
Death— 
The wail of the fatherless, crying. 

For hiking, or striking the heart into flame, 
'Tis the music to follow to death or to fame. 
William V. V. Stephens, 

nth Engineers, U. S. A. 

LETTER CL 
Back for Much-Needed Rest. — A Cootie Hunt. 

No. 32. — Aug. 13, 19 18. 
Dear Mother, Pop and Marj.: 

We are back out of the line for a blessed rest. I got 
the transport, with our guns, ammunition, equipment, 
etc., out of the line at about 10.45 P- ^- when we were 
relieved, and got to our rest camp* at 4.30 the next 
morning. We pulled straight through without a stop, 
and made, I think, record time for the distance covered. 
Of course, we are mounted. Men driving limbers (four 
animals to a limber) ride the nigh horse. 

We have had a most successful tour of duty, killed 
lots of Boche and came out remarkably lucky ourselves. 
Everyone from Summit is O. K. Our men are superb, 
and their keenness amazes the British. 

I received your letter No. 14, and was certainly glad 
to hear from vou. The last letter of vours I received 



St. Laurent, near Winnezeele. 



348 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



was No. 9, so all of your mail and all of mine between 
the dates of Jmie 25 and July 18 is missing. I am glad 
to learn that you are all well and that you have heard 
from Rob. 

Very much pleased to learn that Mr. and Mrs. G. 
called on you, and that you have met Mrs. J., for they 

are nice people. I have writ- 
ten you about Roger, and 
why he was made our first 
sergeant, so that you can 
tell his mother. He is fine, 
and his chance for a com- 
mission will come, if he 
lives, probably with the 
next officers' training 
school. Remember me to 
Mr. and Mrs. J. 

I am falling asleep. 
Fourteen days with an 
average of four or five 
hours' sleep daily, and that 
in the daytime, added to 
the severe strain and phys- 
ical hardship, wears one 
out terribly, and I am stupid with weariness. I was 
slightly gassed, but nothing at all serious. 

The company has come out with the finest assort- 
ment of grandfather cooties you could imagine. The 
men are on the hunt now, with a pot put up for the man 
who can exhibit the biggest one. 

Love to all. Kenneth. 




© Aime Dupont 

First Sergt. Roger Jones. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 349 

LETTER CLI 

Rated Good by Training School. — A Thirty-six 

Hours' Leave. — Wet Weather and Mud 

LIave Their Advantages. 

No. 33-— Aug. 17, 1918. 
Dear Mother: 

I received Marj.'s letters of July 2d and 20th yester- 
day, and yours dated July 24th today. The latter came 
in fine time, less than a month. Marj. shouldn't vv^orry 
about my not having vv^ax-beans, for v^e are getting all 
that we can eat of them, and they are fine. Marj.'s 
nursing course ought to be interesting, but tell her to stay 
'it home, w^here there is always plenty of work to do. 
There are thousands of women engaged in war work 
here now. 

I am glad Mrs. F. and Mrs. W. were down. Mrs. 
F. is a fine woman, and has been exceedingly nice to me, 
and so has Mrs. W. 

I came out in good shape at the training school. 
Willis received the highest rating and I the next highest, 
so we made out extremely well. It was the hardest work 
I ever tackled. An officer who fails in one of these 
courses is taken out of the first-Hne troops, and a great 
many are sent home. There is this "home" bugaboo 
staring you in the face all the time. For the most part 
it is considered a dishonor for an officer to be sent home, 
no matter in what capacity, before he has served at least 
six months in the line, for it is nearly always the incom- 
petents who go. 

I told you that I got my kit back. I have stored most 



350 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

of it^ and am down to fifty pounds of baggage. All of 
the many things that we were required to bring over 
with us are in storage, or I hope they are; for we have 
no assurance that trunks ever reach their destination. A 
great many are broken into and the contents stolen, and 
we have no come-baxk. 

If I said that I bathed in the North Sea, I was wrong, 
for it was the English Channel that I meant to write. 
It is odd that Jack S. should meet Mr. Helfenstein. I 
received a letter from Mr. H. two days ago. Walter 
sent him my address. He is at Barnegat Inlet. 

There! I think I have answered all of your letters. 
The one Pop wrote on the loth I have not received, and 
hope that I get it, for I hate to lose his letters. 

I heard from Eddy yesterday. He evidently got to 
the south just in time to see the last Boche beating it 
across the Vesle. Old Jerry Boche can run when it is 
necessary, but he will stop, for this war is not over yet. 
This last success has been wonderful, the greatest 
features of it being that Amiens is now free, and a lateral 
dispersion of troops can easily be made, on account of 
the opening up again of the railroads in this vicinity, and 
the capture of so many big guns. 

Helmuth and I had thirty-six hours' leave and we 
went to a large city* not far from us to purchase some 
necessary things, such as clothing, tooth paste and so on. 
We had an interesting trip. I had been through this city 
once before, but I was with the company, so, of course, 
did not see much of it. I always head first for the 
churches and cathedrals, as they contain the oldest relics, 
the finest works of art; in short, everything that is worth 

* St. Omer. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 351 

seeing. I caught a priest who spoke EngHsh and knew 
the history of the Roman CathoHc Church, and his own 
individual church and everything in it, like the back of his 
hand. The church contains some marvellous old Spanish 
wood-carving, and the finest stone carvings I have ever 
seen. There is one tablet, the Last Supper, a beautiful 
piece of work, all cut in a single stone and colored. It 
dates back to the eighth century, and the coloring is as 
good as when it was finished. The place is full of these 
things. There are also three wonderful old paintings, 
one of the Ascension and the other two symbolical of 
events in the history of the Catholic Church. 

I spent the night in a good hotel and had a hot bath, 
the first in a long time. We got back this morning. We 
went and came in the only way it is possible to travel 
near the line, lorry-jumping. You can ''jump" lorries to 
any point. It is a great game, and I have it down to an 
art now. A lorry is a giant auto truck. The British have 
thousands of them. They transport the entire equipment, 
rations, supplies, etc., for millions of men from the rail- 
heads to dumps right back of the lines, so you can esti- 
mate their number, which is legion. 

I wish I could give you some kind of picture, lift a 
corner of a curtain that is ever closed, and let you see 
for a minute the tremendous organization behind the 
man in the front line. This organization has been per- 
fected during four years of war, and has reached a high 
state of perfection. For every man in the line it requires 
five or six behind the lines. 

I am feeling fine, have got rested and am ready to go 
in again. I received a second letter from Mrs. Austin. 



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Lts. Gadebusch and Gow, August, 1918, St. Omer 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 353 

Thank her for it, and tell her I appreciate her letters very 
much. I will cable you now and then when I have the 
opportunity, for we can cable home for about the same 
price you can wire from Summit to New York.* 

We have had delightful weather since coming back 
from the front. We had it bad there for a while, and I 
had a perfect hell with my transport for a few days. 
There is always something to be thankful for, however. 
When it is wet it naturally is very muddy, and high ex- 
plosive shells are then not so dangerous, for they bury 
themselves in the soft ground before they detonate, and 
the worst you are likely to get is a mud bath. If a shell 
hits a hard surface, it explodes on contact, of course, 
and if it misses you, you are still likely to get half a 
cobblestone in the bean. 

I had some more pictures taken on the insistence of 
Helmuth, he and I together. I will send them along 
when they are finished. 

Remember me to anyone who may be interested, and 
love to vou all. 

Ken. 

LETTER CLII 

On a Big Farm. — War Within a Few Miles Seems 
Impossible. 

No. 34 — Aug. 21, 19 18. 
Dear Marj.: 

Just a short note written during a drill period, for we 
move again tomorrow, and I don't want to leave too big a 
gap be tween my letters. We are having a stretch of per- 

* This privilege was afterwards abridged. 



354 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

feet weather. The crops are all harvested and stacked. 
We are back just out of earshot of the big guns, billeted 
on an enormous farm,* with a large herd of cattle, sheep, 
hogs, chickens and twenty horses. The people are busy 
with their crops, and it seems impossible that a war is 
raging within a few miles, or that we have just left the 
firmg-line. 

Helmuth is splendid company. I don't know what I 
would do without him. He is also one of the most effi- 
cient officers I have ever seen, and as cool as a cucumber 
under fire.f 

Everyone from Summit is well. Billy Leonard is one 
of the regiment's dead. You may remember him, as he 
wrote for both the Gas Attack and the Gazette. He was a 
sergeant and a fine man. 

Love to all, 

Kenneth. 

LETTER CLHI 

Pleads a Previous Engagement. — High Living on a 
French Farm. — Promotion Postponed. 

No. 35— Aug. 27, 1918. 
Dear Marj.: 

Your letter of July 31 came yesterday. . . . That 
was interesting about ''Hearts and the Jersey." I got the 
ticket, but unfortunately, owing to a previous engagement, 
it will be impossible for me to attend. To tell you the 
truth, I have a more or less important part in a great 
debate between Imperialism, Might, Ruthlessness, Bad 

* Hazewinde Farm, St. Laurent, northeast of Cassel. 
t See footnote, page 392. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 355 

Faith and Treachery on one side and Humanity and Peace 
on the other. I don't have to say a word in my argument ; 
that is- the beauty of it. Just a sHght pressure on a safety- 
catch with the tips of my two middle fingers, a gentle 
pressure with my thumbs on two thumbpieces, and I am 
talking peace at the rate of 450 words per minute. There 
can be no answer to it but one, and some day that answer 
will be given. It is inevitable. So not this time, Marj. 

I have not heard from Rob for a long time. Jerry 
Boche must have captured the whole unit. Have settled 
in our new billets. I was sorry to leave our last camp. 
We had a seven days' rest there after leaving the line, 
and it was very peaceful and delightful. I wrote you 
that we were on a big farm, and they were just completing 
the harvesting of their crops. Such crops I never saw. 
Their production of wheat, oats and rye per acre is tre- 
mendous, and must be many times greater than ours. We 
lived better than at any time since coming to France. Our 
mess, the officers', was finer than anything the Ritz or 
Waldorf could furnish at any price — butter made on the 
farm, fresh every day ; all the milk we wanted, and fine 
milk, too ; roast chicken ; all the eggs we needed ; new 
potatoes; salade, as they call lettuce; wax-beans, cooked 
in butter ; and their wonderful turnips. Whenever I land 
on a farm like this, I always remember all that Pop ever 
told us of his days on a farm in Scotland. Remember, 
Marj., how fine he said everything always tasted. Well, 
I am appreciating it all now, for his descriptions always 
fit a good French farm. Their vegetables are certainly 
far finer than ours, the turnips the finest things you ever 
ate, like the rutabagas Pop talked of. 



356 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

Aug. 28. 

I had to stop last night and got no farther. In the 
meantime I received your letter of July 7 and Pop's of 
July 9. I certainly was glad to get them. I can't imagine 
where they have been. . . . 

I wrote you that I had been recommended for promo- 
tion. This went through approved by the division 
machine gun officer, and two nights ago I was summoned 
before my brigadier- general'^ and put through the mill. 
When it was all over he said that everything was satisfac- 
tory. So you see he approved. This morning word came 
that I could not be commissioned, as General Headqrs. 
A. E. F. were sending training-camp officers to fill all 
vacancies in the division. There are a certain number of 
excess officers in France, and no one can be promoted until 
all of these have been absorbed. This order came through 
very suddenly. Before it was received there was no doubt 
about my papers going through. So I will remain a sec- 
ond lieutenant for a while. All promotions are supposed 
to be made on seniority, except where exceptional ability 
or meritorious conduct is observed. I am not the senior 
second lieutenant in my division, but this didn't make any 
difference. However, vacancies will occur and surplus 
officers will be taken up, and then a man can earn promo- 
tion. I am almost at the head of the list, second or third, 
I believe. I am sorry I wrote you about it at all, but it 
was certain until this other thing came up. 

Pop's fine letter is the one I have been looking for and 
thought I had lost. I hate to lose his letters. It certainly 
is quite a thing to get a Jersey film over on Broadway. I 
have written regarding the wonderful showing the good 

* Brigadier-General Palmer E. Pierce. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 357 

Scotch regiments always make. This is apropos of Pop's 
remark concerning the impression they made in New York 
on the Fourth. I have seen many of the Scotch regiments 
which have been famous for generations. Surprised to 
hear that the D. L. & W, has come down to the use of soft 
coal. 

Pop has quoted a line or two of the ''Battle Hymn of 
the Republic." If ever we get into Germany I hope to 
march down the Unter den Linden or through Potsdam 
with this great and glorious division of ours and hear 
every man singing the ''Battle Hymn." 

I am feeling fine. Everyone from Summit well. Re- 
member me to the I.'s. 

Mv love to you all. 

Ken. 

LETTER CLIV 

Describes Transport Work. — Victory not yet in 

Sight. — Praise for French and British. — The 

Indiscriminating Cootie. 

Aug. 27, 1918. 
Dear Mr. Geistweit: 

Your letter of July 23d received yesterday, and there 
is no use in my trying to tell you how glad I was to hear 
from you again. I wrote you immediately on receipt of 
your first letter, which I hope you have received. 

We are back of the lines resting, after an arduous tour 
of duty in the front line. I was slightly gassed twice, 
but am entirely over the effects of it. I am what is known 
in the service as company transport of^cer. The trans- 



358 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

port consists of the gun-limbers and other horse-or-mule- 
drawn vehicles that are necessary for the transport of the 
rations and equipment of such a company as this. One 
of the characteristics of the weapon with which we are 
armed is its mobility, and the mobility of a machine gun 
company depends to a great extent on its animal transport. 
We go into action; guns, ammunition, etc., are dragged 
off their limbers, which often remain in the immediate 
vicinity, and when an advance or a retirement is ordered 
the limbers are brought up, equipment packed in about two 
minutes and away we go. In twelve days in the line I 
ran the transport with rations and supplies from our base 
to the dump at the line almost 300 miles. This mileage is 
a total of nightly trips. As you undoubtedly know, all 
work must be done after dark and completed by daybreak, 
on account of enemy observation. I left as a rule 
about 7:00 P. M. and usually was back at my base again 
by 4:00 or 4:30 the next morning. About 150 or 160 
miles of the above total was over shell-swept areas. 
Twice the man riding beside me was hit, and once the lim- 
ber I was standing against was showered with high ex- 
plosive. At another time eight 5.9 shells dropped within 
a radius of 30 yards around me, and every one was a 
*'dud" ; that is, shells which failed to detonate. This was 
enough to blast a hole 100 feet in diameter and 30 feet 
deep, had they exploded. Now you can appreciate my 
luck. That is the way it goes. A man will go through 
heavy shell-fire every night and remain untouched, and 
then get himself knocked off by a stray shell away in a 
back area ten miles behind the lines. 

I shall not be on the transport much longer, as my 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 359 

recommendation has gone through approved for a first 
lieutenancy, which will come through in due time. I 
shall not be sorry, as I have the most dangerous post in 
the company. A man actually in the trenches can always 
get cover when Jerry Boche begins to strafe ; but when 
I am caught out I must get through with it as best I 
may, for I cannot drag my own horse and the men, with 
their animals and limbers, into a trench. We have to 
stick to them and run for it, for we know that if we fail 
a whole company is going without food or water. So you 
see the terribly responsible position I have. I have often 
reached my base after thirty miles or twelve straight 
hours in the saddle, too weary with the fatigue of the 
trip and the mental strain to do anything but just plain 
fall off my horse. What I generally do when I am caught 
en a road by shell-fire is to stop and watch for a minute 
to see whether Fritz is working towards me or away 
from me. If his shells are coming up a road towards 
me, or, in other words, if he is traversing, I have to time 
them, and when I figure the next one will land on the 
spot on which we may be standing, we leave that same 
spot as speedily as the Lord will let us, and take a chance 
that we have guessed right. 

A letter came from my sister, in which she said that 
she and mother had dinner with Mrs. H., you and George 
at the Astor. She proceeded into a description of some 
kind of a lobster salad which you recommended, and 
wrote so much about it that it actually made me sick with 
envy. Some day I will be back, if I am lucky, and you 
are going to pay for that by buying me a large man's 
size portion. 



360 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

Our men are doing wonderfully well. Their success 
has really been extraordinary. One must not forget, how- 
ever, that we have had the benefit of English and French 
instruction, and have been warned against the mistakes 
they have made. We have the benefit of their four long, 
bitter years of experience, and go into action with the 
full knowledge of what not to do. The lessons which 
they have learned at the cost of human lives came to us 
before we ever saw the front lines. 

You have read of the wonderful Allied success in the 
last month, so there is no use of me saying anything about 
it. It speaks for itself. I might say, however, that the 
people at home may be apt to feel a littlte too optimistic 
about it all, and lose their perspective. It is not going to 
be a grand gallop to victory yet. A long struggle is still 
ahead. That is, there can be no doubt of the outcome, 
but dark days are still liable to come, so too much must 
not be expected. 

The morale of our troops is, of course, excellent, as 
it ought to be. I wish, Mr. Geistweit, that you might 
see for yourself the wonderful spirit of the British and 
French armies. It is a never-ceasing source of surprise 
and admiration to me, for I cannot forget that they have 
been in this shambles for over four years. With the 
French it is an ideal, with the British it is the old racial 
characteristic that has been typical of them during their 
whole national existence; namely, a bull-dog spirit that 
hangs on when every one else thinks they are licked, a 
spirit which never admits defeat. It is marvelous, for no 
one knows what a terrible buffeting they have taken, and 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 361 

won't know until the war is over and there are no more 
censorship regulations.* 

I am well and happy. Am glad the business is going 
along so well. I really thought you would all go to the 
wall the minute I left. (Oh! yes; I did.) Am glad you 
see father every once in a while. Give George my best, 
and have him read this, and if he doesn't take a half-hour 
and write me, I will everlastingly wring his neck if ever 
I set foot in Brooklyn again. I have had some more 
pictures taken, so will send one along as soon as I receive 
them. Just imagine the vanity of men, who go and have 
themselves photographed within the range of Jerry 
Boche's big guns. I weigh 190 lbs., and am getting to be 
a regular tanned and seared battle veteran. (At least it 
pleases me to think so, when, as a matter of fact, I am 
nothing but a rank amateur.) Remember me to C., I 
forget her husband's name; and if you think she is inter- 
ested, let Geo. take this letter to her. 

A funny thing I must tell you of. Every time we 
come out of the trenches the company has a big cootie 
hunt. A cootie, as you probably know, is what the vulgar 
call a louse. Every man throws tuppence, or possibly as 
much as half a franc (if they have just been paid), into 

*"August 8," as Ludendorff begins his next chapter, "was the black day of 
the German Army in the history of this war." On that day it was revealed to 
him with a bang that the British Army was not beaten and that the German 
Army was. "By the early hours of the forenoon I had already gained a com- 
plete impression of the situation. It was a very gloomy one." It grew more 
gloomy still as the day wore on, and still darkened his mind while writing his 
memoirs later on in Sweden. "August 8 put the decline of our fighting power 
beyond all doubt . . . The war must be ended." 

It proved, however, a more painful process to end the war than to begin it. 
On the first day the two armies [British and French] drove forward six or 
seven miles in so boisterous a fashion that for the first time since 1914 the 
cavalry was thrown in. In five days he had drawn back to the old trench lines 
of 1915. In five days, to quote Haig, sixteen British divisions captured 22,000 
prisrners and 400 guns and advanced twelve miles. — Majcr T. H. The mas, in 
N. Y. Evening Post, Aug. 30, 19:0. 



362 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

a pot, and the man who finds the biggest one wins. 
Cooties are at the same time both the funniest and the 
most unpleasant pest we have to put up with. They are 
all colors and sizes, and bite like a fiend incarnate. The 
only consolation one has when they make a sortie on one's 
person is the knowledge that they are no respecters of 
rank, file or station in life. They will tackle a field mar- 
shall or a lieutenant-general as quick as a buck private. 

I have not seen my brother or your nephews. In fact, 
I have seen but a small part of my own regiment during 
my entire tour of duty in France, so you see how things 
are. Each unit has its own sector, and rarely gets out of 
it. When the division is all out they are scattered over 
miles of country, due to the billet system. 

Write as often as you can, for you cannot know how 
much mail is looked forward to and appreciated. 

With my very best to you and George. 

Kenneth Gow. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 363 

UP WITH THE RATIONS. > 

By permission of the Author and of "Stars and Stripes." 

Hovering of darkness and coverlids of dawn — 
Up with the rations, where the boys have gone ! 
Creaking and crying the Hmbers rattle on — 
Up with the rations — but the roads are gone ! 

'Which is the road to take?" 
''How many miles to make?" 
Never a nerve to shake — 
On with the game! 

Shriek of the whining shell, 
Bursting with flares of hell. 
Lighting the road so well. 
Thank it the same! 

Crooning of aeroplanes, hovering o'er you — , 
(Mind you, the Infantry made it before you!) 

"Come, build this bridge again — 
Cut through this field of grain — 
Work and forget the rain — 
Hustle those men !" 

"Here, take this overcoat; 

Cover that wounded blote, 

Pull it around his throat — 

He's kickin' in !" 



364 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

How the mud oozes and clings to the ration cart, 
Clinches the rims of the tires till they hold! 
How the mules fret at the load when the wagons start 
Stretching the traces from lashes that scold ! 

''God! What a fierce barrage! 
There goes a team at large! 
Where is that transport sarge ? 
Finding a hole?" 

Never a chance to run for cover, 
This is the way he puts them over. 

''Bring on that set o' spares! 
Pull off them murdered mares ! 
Hitch on two other pairs 
And fix that pole!" 

"Now — one at a crack as I give you the sign. 

Dig into her ribs and shoot for the line ! 

Or find yourself drivin' a limber in hell 

And ball up my dope on the drops of the shell !" 

Close enough now for a shot from a gunner's nest. 
To warn you that Fritz is sniping out there^ — 
Close enough now for a Avhisper to give you rest 
To last you a while with never a care ! 

"Sir ! Your rations are delivered !" 

^ ^s ^ jjt :}; 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 365 

Oh! it's welcome to the dawn, lad, 

When the night is long. 
For here's an empty cart, lad, 

That sings a lively song. 

Who would be part of the transport on a far-flung battle 

line, 
With never a thrill of battle, with never a lip to whine? 

But, oh! there's a song in a limber 

That stirs to the blood, my lad. 
And swinging along with the rations 

Is never one-half so bad; 
For the glare and the gleam of a star-shell 

And a teamster's gay ''gid-dap" 
Flold enough for the life of a soldier, 

For the blood of a nervy chap. 
And a lad lives close to his God, my lad, 

And lo ! his heart is true ; 
For it takes a person of parts, my lad. 

To get the rations through! 

J. Palmer Gumming, 

R.S.S., 305th Inf. 



366 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

LETTER CLV 

Treatment of American Soldiers in England. 

No. 36. — Aug. 28, 19 18. 
Dear Mama: 

I had a letter from Rob today mailed Aug. 22d. He 
is feeling fine, and has evidently just come out of the 
line. He says it has been impossible for him to write 
anyone. I was certainly happy to hear from him. 

I am enclosing two clippings from the London Daily 
Mail which are interesting. We hear more and more of 
the kind treatment our men receive from the English 
people, who take them into their homes at their face 
value. We hear a great many stories similar to the one 
I enclose, only, as a rule, minus the romance. I think 
it is a great thing they are doing, these women of Eng- 
land. Many of them have lost their own men folks, and 
they are all suffering the privations of war, yet they can 
forget their grief long enough to make hundreds of our 
men comfortable. All manner of places have been fixed 
up in England for the comfort of our officers and men, 
and no charge of any kind is made. Wounded Ameri- 
cans come back with the cockles of their hearts warmed 
by the treatment they received in England. Think of 
what all this is going to mean after the war!* English 

* "On behalf of five million Americans who on land and water became com- 
rades in war of those of the British Empire's fighting forces, I convey to you 
the greetings of the American Legion on the sixth anniversary of the day 
Great Britain made the heroic decision that brought the English-speaking people 
into the great struggle in defense of free institutions. 

"United States forces have had the privilege of service under British high 
command. Thus, to the multiple ties of race, language, tradition and common 
institutions, which unite the people of our two nations, was added the bond of 
fellowship in war. The memories of the associations of those great days will 
never perish. They will perpetuate themselves in our hearts and thus serve 
to perpetuate the indissoluble friendship of the British and American 
peoples." — American Legion Message to Britain, Aug. 4, 1920. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 367 

officers have told me that they had met many people from 
the United States, but until the war they had never met 
an American. 

We are having a damp, rainy spell of weather again. 
These come regularly, and the mud — I never imagined 
such mud. I don't like to think of the coming winter, 
when we will have four or five months of it, with prac- 
tically no sunshine. 

Send me some reading material now and then. I saw 
the illustrated sections of the New York Times of July 
1 6th and 23d and a certain other date today. They are 
fine, although a lot of pictures taken at the ''front" are 
fakes. In the one the date of which I have left unmen- 
tioned was an excellent photograph of a famous point 
on the front,* the very place in the line where I was. 
In saying this much I don't think I am violating any 
censorship regulations, as I am conveying no military 
information. 

I am feeling ''on the crest." Best to Walter and love 
to you all. ^^^ 

LETTER CLVI 
A New Officer in the Company. 

No. 37-— Aug. — , iQiS.t 
Dear Mother, Pop and Marj.: 

I have caught up with my mail after our last delivery, 
which was an unusually large one. I seem to be devel- 

* Mont des Cats, where there is an old monastery, where one of the Kaiser's 
sons is buried. The Germans refrained from shelling this monastery, because 
one of the monks was the only man who knew where the grave is. 

t Billeted at Abeele Aerodrome, about fifteen kilometres from Ypres. 



368 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

Oping a heavy A. E. F. correspondence. Every so often 
I receive a letter from some one who is over here, and 
it is a bit hard to answer every one. We have sent a 
good many men from our regiment to other organiza- 
tions, and I like to keep in touch with them. I got a let- 
ter from Eddy the other day, and he is well. He is with 
the 26th Div., and is in another part of France. 

We are in the midst of another rainy spell, and every- 
thing is submerged in mud. However, no matter how 
bad it gets, it takes about three or four days only of sun 
and wind to dry the ground out enough to be able to 
draw a transport over it. 

One of our new officers has arrived.* He is a first- 
lieutenant and fills the vacancy that I was recommended 
for. When the captain found that my commission 
would not go through, for the reasons I stated to you in 
a previous letter, he immediately went after this officer, 
whom he knew and who has been in the division a long 
time. He is from one of the machine gun battalions. 
We will have only one more assigned to us now, to fill 
one more vacancy, a second lieutenancy. 

I have been suddenly interrupted by an order. From 
a previous knowledge of the tactical situation here, I 
gather from this order that there will be great doings 
quickly. It is great news, and you will have read of it 
long before this reaches you. So I must stop and work 
quickly, t 

Love to all. 

Ken. 



*Lt. Adsit. 

t The order was to move forward on thirty minutes' notice. The expected 
attack did not take place, as the Germans retired to Vierstaat Ridge. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 369 

LETTER CLVII 

Two Birthdays Contrasted. — Mail. — Seeing 

France. — Tommy Atkins, His Officers and 

His People. 

No. 38— Sept. 2, 1918. 
Dear Mother, Pop and Marj.: 

I received a letter from Rob, which took only five days 
to reach me, and cabled Pop today stating that we were 
both well. 

I spent my birthday (Sept. i) on the road. The day 
was one of the most beautiful we have had in France, 
very clear and very cool, with just a touch of the comino- 
fall in the air. I did forty miles in the saddle, and did 
not feel it, so you can appreciate how bracing the air was. 

One spot on the road I shall never forget. We were 
riding along one of the many magnificent highways of 
France,* which runs as straight and true as an engineer's 
transit could make it. A solid row of great Lombardy 
poplars hues both sides of the road. We had pro- 
ceeded along this road for miles, when we came to a 
long, gentle down-grade with a rather abrupt drop for 
two hundred feet, and then a gentle rise on the other 
side. Looking from the point where the down-grade com- 
menced, between the long rows of poplars, I could see 
ahead of me a beautiful church-spire and part of a par- 
tially-hidden hamlet, hidden by a luxurious growth of 
foliage; beyond it a grain-field with its newly-shocked 
wheat, and in the background a hop-field. Over all the 
sky was of an intense blue, flecked with an occasional 
fleecy white cloud. 

* The Abeele-Steenvorde Road. 



370 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

I had been over this road many times before, but 
ordinarily under very trying conditions. The serene 
beauty of it that Sunday morning struck me as it never 
had before. You see, the road and village that I am writ- 
ing about are now far in the rear. When I first saw them 
and travelled over this road it was under shell-fire, and 
I had some narrow escapes in and on both village and 
road. Passing on through the town, it is found to be a 
wreck. Looking at it from a distance, this is not notice- 
able. By some chance or fate, the only part that has not 
been hit is a great cemetery hundreds of years old, in 
the centre of the town. Even the church has suffered. 

Some day I shall tell you the story of this town.* It 
is very tragic and very sad, but its people were very brave. 
The picture I saw, which I have tried to describe to you, 
I shall never forget — a picture that no artist could truly 
paint, framed between the finest specimens of France's 
favorite tree. 

That was my chief experience on my twenty-ninth 
birthday. On my twenty-seventh birthday I was marching 
as a private in Texas. I have pictures of both days in my 
mind in juxtaposition. In one we are passing through 
a country where civilization has as yet failed to penetrate 
to any great extent. We are on the frontier, where even 
the wild animals have not yet developed a fear of man and 
his firearms, a land for the most part just as it was 
created, the primitive dominating. In the other picture I 
am riding at the head of my transport through a country 
which has reached the highest state of cultivation, and 
which has known civilization for many centuries, giving 
an impression of substantiality, character and strength. 

* Steenvorde, near Cassel. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 371 

Both are beautiful in widely-separated ways. This all 
struck through my mind as I was riding along that road. 

There has been a tremendous retirement. You will 
have read of it before this. It has us travelling. Don't 
mistake me ; it is Jerry Fritz Boche who is doing the run- 
ning. I wish I could write you more of it. 

Jun has just come in and brought some mail, a letter 
from Marj. dated August 6th and a fine letter from Pop 
dated the 7th. You should address Amer. E. F., as mail 
marked simply A. E. F. becomes confused with the 
African E. F. and the Australian E. F. Remember we 
are not the only pebbles on the beach. . . . All of your 
mail is fine, and I cannot begin to tell you what it means 
to me. A lot of men are getting something like this; ''I 
am worrying to death about you, and I don't think sister 
will live," etc. Junk like this is not conducive to good 
morale in a soldier. 

Some day, Marj., we absolutely must see France. You 
will fall in love with it and its people. I have seen a great 
part of it, by rail, bicycle, walking and on my horse. The 
mare is the envy of every other mounted officer I meet, 
so you see how fortunate I am. She is fast, wonderfully 
well gaited, bridle-wise, leg-wise, and has a head as light 
as a feather. It is a rare treat for me to get off on her 
alone for a long ride and a stop for something to eat at 
a hospitable farmhouse. Perhaps I am wrong, but I 
have a deep pity for the men who go off to the towns 
or cities they happen to be near and spend all of their 
liberty in an estaminet or debit de hoissons, as they are 
ordinarily called. 

I have read Pop's letter and the clippings he enclosed 



372 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

with a great deal of interest. The latter confirm what I 
have been writing you. Britain's part and her sacrifices 
in the war have been tremendous. We all like and ad- 
mire Tommy Atkins and his officers. I know what I am 
talking about, for I have fought the Hun beside him, 
and once helped one to dig shrapnel out of his horse, 
which wounds were received when I was riding beside 
him away up forward. 

The ''German Lies" are certainly interesting. I would 
waste time and paper in expressing an opinion of fools 
who believe such statements. Our instructions concern- 
ing the treatment of Boche prisoners are quite the 
opposite of that story, and if it wasn't for the British 
mercantile marine and the British Navy we should have 
exactly sixty-five per cent, less American troops here 
now. Jun Willis came over on a British boat, and every- 
one was treated royally. I have written you a good deal 
on this subject, for I have felt that there would be a lot 
of groundless statements made concerning our ally. I 
have told you of the wonderful reception and treatment 
the man in an American uniform gets from the English 
people. They are doing everything in the world to make 
him feel at home when he lands in England, when he 
comes to England on leave, and when he is sent there 
wounded. Our men come back most enthusiastic and 
touched. 

Europe needs no education from Americans. The 
shoe is on the other foot to a great extent, and is ab- 
solutely so in most things agricultural and architectural. 
Pop's story of his Country Life friend is very amusing. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER Z7Z 

The man would certainly broaden his own education by 
coming *Wer here." 

Jun and Helmuth are both here writing beside me, 
and send their best regards. Let Walter read this. Love 
to all. 

Ken. 

LETTER CLVIII 
The Division Makes a Big Move to a New Area. 

No. 39. — Sept. 6, 19 1 8. 
Dear Mother: 

This will have to be a very short note. I will write 
again this evening, if I can. In case I do not have the 
opportunity, I want to get off a short note. 

We have moved many miles by train to another area, 
and are now back of a famous front.* The moving was 
a stupendous task. I loaded thirty-seven animals, thirty- 
two of them refractory mules, and our entire limbered 
and wheeled transport in thirty minutes, and received 
the commendation of the regimental commander. At 
the end of our train ride we had to unload in the dark, 
harness, get our limbers straightened out (there are two 
parts to each), unload the mules and start off out of a 
big cityt to our destination,} at which I arrived with the 
transport at 5.15 the next morning, riding all night. I 
had to go through country I had never been in before, 
without a guide, on the compass bearing only and the 

* The Somme. 

t Doullens, twenty miles east of Abbeville, and back of the old Percnne- 
Arras front. 
t Terremesnil, 



374 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

name of my destination. During the night there is no 
one on the roads to help you out. 

Save the enclosed clipping; put it in my scrap-book. 
The N. Y. Times has had a lot about us at various times. 
The country here is exceedingly beautiful. We will 
probably rest a few days after our train journey. I am 
well and happy. Our division has been highly honored 
in being sent on its present mission. Love to all. 

Ken. 
LETTER CLIX 

Photos. — In a Down Country. — The Division's 
Dramatists. 

No. 40. — Sept. 6, 19 18. 
Dear Mother, Pop and Marj.: 

I sent a short letter off this morning, with the prom- 
ise of a longer one this evening, but it is late, and I 
don't think that I shall write so much this time. 

The pictures I wrote you of have arrived, and I will 
send them off in relays, as I did before. I think they 
are better than the others. Helmuth and I had them 
taken in a very famous town,* from which a most won- 
derful view can be obtained of the country in every di- 
rection. I promised Mr. Geistweit one of the pictures. 
I shall send them all to you, so give him one, and give 
Walter one of each. I had on a heavy trench coat, so I 
look more or less like a sack of bran tied round the 
middle. I think I am looking older ; don't know whether 
the picture shows it or not. The woman who took them 
insisted that I keep my glasses on, so of course my eyes 
look bad. 



St. Omer. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



375 



The country we are now about to operate in is beau- 
tiful. It is a regular *'down" country, hills rolling one 
behind the other as far as 
the eye can see. The pas- 
tures are as green as they 
can be, the grain-fields are 
a pale yellow, and here and 
there a field of brown 
heather. Around the fields 
run hawthorn hedges, with 
here and there clumps of 
trees. All of this rolls 
and rolls over the hills as 
far as you can see. 

We are billeted with 
some fine old French peo- 
ple.* I have had some in- 
teresting talks with them 
through one of the men of 
the company who speaks 
French. Now that I am 
back where they speak 
French, I may pick up a 
little more of it. 

The Captain and I went 
ojff for a long bicycle ride 
tonight. We stopped in a 
big towny where most of 
division headquarters are, 
and saw the divisional 
show. It has been completely changed since I last saw it. 

* At Terremesnil. 
t Beauquesne. 




St. Omer. August, 1918. Just 

Back from the Front and 

Gassed 



376 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

It is excellent. All the men whom you saw in Spartan- 
burg are still doing their bit by working hard at enter- 
taining the men. We have the best divisional dramatics in 
France. 

The night l^ombing squadrons are passing over my 
head in great numbers. Jerry Boche's back areas will 
catch hell tonight. 

Ken. 

LETTER CLX 

Discusses the War. — Troubles of the Transport 

Animals. — The Division Makes Terremesnil 

a Spotless Town. 

No. 41. — Sept. 7, 1918. 
Dear Marj.: 

Paste the enclosed clipping in my scrap-book. The 
English papers have a great many of such articles, but 
this one is more typical than any I have read. It needs 
no comment. It is a very accurate description of the 
average American soldier, his appearance, his manners 
and his attitude. 

The war news continues good. It looks as if there 
is a fine possibility of driving the Germans over their 
own famous Hindenburg line. Tonight's communique 
states that the Aisne has been crossed. This is great. 

At the same time internal mistrust and alarm seem 
to be spreading in Germany. I read some extracts from 
a speech or letter of our old friend Herr Dernberg, 
quoted from a German paper. He seems to be souring 
on the Imperial Government. He says: ''Our lies are 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



zn 



coarse and improbable, our intrigues are without salt 
and without grace." He certainly ought to know his 
countrymen. The Crown Prince has just delivered him- 
self of a lot of characteristic lies about the war, which 
he so largely caused, and I hope he has read Dernberg's 




H. Q. 27th Div., Near Ronssoy, Sept. 30, 1918. 



article. His object seems to be to stir up bad feeling 
between the French and British, representing the British 
troops as being led by clumsy fools, who are yet wise 
enough to elbow the French into the place of danger. 
He says the French are bleeding to death. It is not the 
first time that T have seen that remark attributed to his 



378 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

Imperial Shysterness. He said it at the battle of Ver- 
dun. NoAv he and his army have learned only too pain- 
fully, during the last few weeks, how very much alive 
is the French corpse. It has inflicted on the Germans 
one of the heaviest defeats in their military history, and 
changed the whole aspect of. the war. 

The Crown Prince has blundered in picking the 
present time to intervene, when a British army has just 
stormed the much-vaunted . Wotan line, taking thousands 
of prisoners, driving the Germans in disorder for miles 
before it. He might also notice the wonderful tributes 
the French people and press have paid the British troops, 
with that imgrudging chivalry which is one of the finest 
traits of the French character. 

There, I had best stop before I write some things I 
shouldn't. Didn't mean to write that way at all. 

Sept. 8. 

I didn't finish last night. It is almost twelve o'clock, 
noon, and today is Sunday, a holiday. I have just fin- 
ished my work at the stables, so am through until 5.30, 
when I shall watch them feed and water. I am having 
a great deal of difficulty keeping my animals up and on 
the go. Have a bad epidemic of scratches and several 
cases of thrush. Both are very difficult to cure in the 
field, particularly if the weather is wet. It requires con- 
stant watching and working to keep a transport going. 

I thought that I would take a long ride this after- 
noon, but I am too tired. It has been a strenuous week, 
so I think I shall lie down and go to sleep, something 
which I very rarely do in the day time, unless I have 
been running the lines all night. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 379 

This is a beautiful town.* If you could see only the 
houses and the high brick walls which hide beautiful 
gardens, and not see the constant streams of soldiers, 
Americans, French, Canadians, Australians, New Zea- 
landers and British, with their transports, motor lorries 
and guns, etc., which pass twenty- four hours of the day 
and seven days in the week, you would never dream that 
a war was raging. This town has remained untouched 
by the ravages of war. It was very dirty when we came 
in, but the regiment has policed it from limit to limit. 
Men were sent into every yard and corner to sweep and 
clean. They carried out some 150 truckloads of debris 
— old cans, dead dogs, cats and rabbits, and a thousand 
other surprising things, and now we have a spotless 
town. The inhabitants were utterly amazed, and they 
must have thought a division of American junkmen had 
suddenly swooped down on them in the night. 

Helmuth sends his best wishes to you all. I am 
feeling fme. 

With love, 

Ken. 

LETTER CLXI 
Matters in General. 

No. 42. — Sept. 10, 19 18. 
Dear Mother, Pop and Marj.: 

Your letters of Aug. 2, 15 and 17 all came in the 
last two days. Some mail reaches us in good time, and 
some of it is extremely slow. 

The fact that you get a P. O. number as part of an 

* Terremesnil. 



380 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

address does not mean that the particular unit to which 
the number applies is to be kept in one place. Each 
division has a P. O. number, and this number stays with 
it, no matter where it moves. 

Rob was among the first of his company to go to the 
front, and I was one of two to go first in my company. 
The Captain and I went up for reconnaissance before 
the company took over their sector. 

We have had some weather here as hot as ever I 
experienced in New York, but that is past and it is cold 
and wet now. 

The pictures I am sending were taken just two days 
after coming out of the line. I was still coughing from 
the effects of my dose of gas. 

Everything is literally floating in mud and water. It 
has rained steadily for five days, and the outlook for 
clear weather is bad. It has quieted things down a little 
on the battle line. We helped to drive the Boche out of 
the last sector we were in. Practically everything is 
mired in the mud, except our tanks, and nothing seems 
to stop them. 

We are doing a lot of range work and big manoeuvre 
work in open warfare, and will probably have our gaps 
filled up here. 

Thanks for your cheerful letters. They are bully. I 
have made an appointment with our dentist for 4.30 to- 
morrow afternoon, so am looking forward to a bad time. 
They get after us in great shape on our teeth. The den- 
tist keeps a history of every man, and there is no getting 

^^ ^™- With love,' 

Ken. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 381 

LETTER CLXII 

French Farming and French Landscapes. — His 

Captain. 

No. 43— Sept. 15, 1918. 
Dear Pop: 

Today is Sunday and a holiday. It has cleared up 
beautifully after ten days of steady rain. It will take a 
week of sunshine to dry the ground out. 

I have just returned from a long ride on my mare. 
The country is very interesting.* The crops are all har- 
vested, leaving only the turnips and beets to be cared for, 
and a few potatoes here and there, although most of these 
are up too. One thing I have particularly noticed is the 
prompt ploughing of the stubble. The grain is cut, 
shocked and thrashed, and, as soon as the old field has 
been thoroughly gleaned, well-rotted cow manure is 
spread and the ploughing then begins at once, followed, 
of course, by the winter planting. The French are scien- 
tific farmers in the true sense of the word. They waste 
nothing, neither time, crops nor land. They lay their 
farms out systematically: so much for rye, so much for 
wheat, a field for clover or alfalfa, which yields three or 
four crops a season ; so much pasture for cows, sheep and 
horses, always a vegetable garden, etc. And when every- 
thing is planted, not a square foot is wasted. Their 
ground produces the maximum always. 

The only sign of the coming fall is the brown stubble- 
fields and newly-ploughed areas. Foliage is as fresh and 
green as when I landed in May. I left the roads with 
my horse this morning and took to the fields and downs. 

* Country around Terremesnil. 



382 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



I don't know when I have enjoyed myself so much. I 
love the country and its people. A French landscape is a 
beautiful sight. I presume Great Britain is just as pretty 
in very much the same way, and I am going to see it, 
if I can. The Old World has a certain charm that the 
New World lacks. 

I met a farmer, who 
showed me his sheep, his 
cattle and his grain. 
About two-thirds of the 
latter he has to give to the 
government. He gave 
me a drink of milk. A 
great many of these 
Frenchmen speak a little 
English, as the British 
Army has been here for 
over four years; so that, 
with the aid of a few 
words of French, you can 
get along fine. It is sig- 
nificant that Frenchmen 
as a general thing speak a 
lot more English than 
Britishers and Americans speak French. We don't seem 
to make any kind of an effort to learn their language, 
principally because we haven't the time. 

We are waiting for more news of the big American 
push. It has had a wonderful effect on everyone. The 
Captain and I took a half-day off and went into the near- 
est big city.* The Germans were in it once, but now it is 




Capt. Walter Gresham Andrews 



Doullens. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 383 

twenty-five miles behind the lines. It is a pretty, quaint 
old place, like all other French towns. We did a lot of 
shopping, had dinner and then lorry-jumped back to our 
headquarters. 

We have a fine captain. Did I tell you that he is the 
famous ''Ham" Andrews of Princeton football fame. 
His father is a Scotchman, and the Andrews of Pratt & 
Andrews, the big varnish and paint firm. The company 
is almost a passion with him. He eats, sleeps and works 
with only the morale and welfare of the company in view. 
We are all well. I cabled you again yesterday, as I had 
just received another letter from Rob. I hope these 
cablegrams get through O. K. 

This letter has been interrupted a dozen times, and is 
consequently rather disconnected. Remember me to Mr. 
Pritchard. You might show him my letter and tell him 
that I would be glad to hear from him. 
Love to you all, 

Ken. 

LETTER CLXni . 

Resting by Working Hard. 

No. 44. — Sept. 18, 1918. 
Dear Marj.: 

Yours dated Aug. 21 came yesterday. . . . We 
are still back ''resting," but I never worked harder. I 
received a letter from Mr. Pritchard and one from Aunt 
A. in the same mail with yours. Was very glad to hear 
from both of them. 

I am still wearing the same eye-glasses that I wore 



384 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

when I left home, and have worn nothing else; I have 
had them on all my rides, in all my work and through 
all of my battle duty, when shells were coming so fast 
that they couldn't be counted, and I have never broken 
them. They have been knocked about and dropped on 
hard roads and stone floors. Isn't that remarkable? I 
suppose that, now I have talked about it, I will break 
them sure. 

The full news of the American-French drive is in. 
The St. Mihiel salient is entirely straightened out, and 
Jerry Boche has fallen back in disorder. It is very 
gratifying. 

With love, 

Ken. 

LETTER CLXIV 

No. 45 — Sept. 21, 1918. 
Dear Mother: 

Your letter of Aug. 23d came yesterday. Your mail 
is coming through very regularly now. 

I know you think of Rob and I so much, mother. 
That is why I make every effort to write as often as I 
can, and to cable when I can. I am always thinking of 
you, and I am always trying to be the man I know you 
want me to be. 

I haven't time to write more now, and don't think 
that I shall be able to write for a few days. 
Love to you all. 

Ken. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 385 

LETTER CLXV 

On a New Front. — A Devastated Country. — The 
Eve of a Great Battle. 

No. 46. — Sept. 26, 19 1 8. 
Dear Mother, Pop and Marj.: 

Just a hurried note to let you know that I am well 




The Famous Tunnel on the Hindenburg Line. 

and safely located in our new area.* I arrived yesterday, 
after a fifty-mile ride. It was the most fascinating and 
interesting", and at the same time depressing, trip I have 
ever made. The regiment came by rail, and the trans- 
port hiked — that is, the mounted and wheeled detach- 
ment of the company — under my command. I was in 

* Haut Allaines, near Peronne, southern end of the Canal du Nord, begin- 
ning of famous Wotan Line. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 387 

the saddle for thirty-six hours, and travelled only at 
night, under a full moon. It rained torrents for four 
hours the first night, but has been clear since. It is very 
cold, and consequently uncomfortable. 

We came over the ground of a famous battle,* and 
we are now^ not far behind the retreating Boche. The 
country is wrecked. Once beautiful cities are just heaps 
of brick and debris, not a living thing to be seen, even 
the trees all shot off, leaving nothing but stumps, which 
look like ghosts in the moonlight. The graveyards are 
turned upside down by terrific shell-fire. The ground is 
covered with all of the signs of a great battle — smashed 
guns of every calibre, wrecked tanks, dead horses, and 
here and there a dead Boche overlooked by the burying 
parties. 

I shall write as often as I can; that you must always 
know ; but it will be rather difficult from now on. This 
letter I am particularly anxious to get off. If it is my 
fate to go this time, remember you have given a son to 
a great cause. Pray not for my welfare, but that I may 
have the strength and courage to do my duty and not 
fail those who depend upon me. I am your son and 
brother, and have done nothing you would not have 
me do. 

I will cable when I have the opportunity, and the 
message will reach you before you receive this letter, so 
that I am not writing to alarm you. 

With my love, in great thankfulness that my heritage 
has been what it is, and with not a fear for the future. 

Kenneth. 

*Amiens, Peronne, Hamel, etc. 




pq 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 389 

LETTER CLXVI 
The Post of Danger the Post of Honor. 

France, Sept. 28, 19 18. 
Dear Walter: 

I am stealing the time to write you a short note, 
which I feel impelled to write. I am writing in a field, 
with guns going all around me. We are about to take 




Country Over Which the 27th Div. Fought on Sept. 29, 1918. 
Between Duncan Post and Bony. 

part in the biggest thing of the war, and our company 
has been honored above all other companies in being 
awarded the danger post. The all- American cry is: 
''Over the top'" You will have read of it long before 
this gets to you, if we succeed. If we don't, you will 
read of it through the casualty lists. Our division has 
had a rare honor laid upon it, because we are the best, 



390 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

and we are going in to sacrifice it all if necessary. A big 
game can be played but once. 

We may be fortunate, and you may receive a more 
cheery letter soon, ,but I must write to you now, my 
friend, and tell you what a rare pleasure your friendship 
has been and is. If I am destined to go, it is for a cause 
worth a dozen lives. My best to the family, Walter, 
and my keen appreciation of a friendship which has 
been an honor. 

Kenneth. 

LETTER CLXVII 
After the Battle. 

No. 47. — Oct. 3, 1918. 
Dear Mother, Pop and Marj.: 

I have come out of the line safe and without a 
scratch. The division was sent over the top to smash 
the Hindenburg Eine, and we have done it. The price 
we paid I am not permitted to write about. Men who 
have been in the war since it started say it was the 
bloodiest thirty-six hours they ever spent. I will not 
write you more about the battle, because my heart is too 
heavy, and I might violate censorship regulations. 

Jun* is dead, killed in action at the head of his pla- 
toon. He died a soldier, every inch of him, and he died 
in a great and successful battle. I will write Mrs. W., 

* First Lieut. Edward Willis (deceased), 9f Summit, N. J., 107th Infantry. 
Lieut. Willis displayed remarkable gallantry in leading his platoon of machine 
guns for more than two thousand yards under terrific machine-gun fire. Even 
after being mortally wounded and unable to advance further, he continued to 
urge his men on. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



391 



and I dread my task. Two other men from home are 
also dead, but I cannot mention names. Roger is 

O. K., but Gaddy* has 
gone to ''BHghty," wound- 
ed. The Captain is wound- 
ed and in hospital, leaving 
two of us with the com- 
pany. The muster after 
the company came out was 
the saddest, most heart- 
tearing experience I ever 
want to go through. 

Your letters of Aug. 29, 
Sept. I and Sept. 6 all re- 
ceived today upon return- 
ing from the line. I must 
stop, as we have not much 
time. I am all O. K. I 
was badly congested from 
gas, but it has all worked 
off in good shape. 
With all my love, and a prayer of thankfulness that 
I came out alive. 

Ken. 

* First Lieut. Paul Helmuth Gadebusch, of Summit, N. J., Machine Gun Co., 
107th Infantry. For exceptionally courageous and meritorious service in making 
preliminary reconnoissance under heavy enemy fire, Sept. 27, 1918, in prepara- 
tion for the attack on the Hindenburg line, France. 

For gallantry and exceptional qualities of leadership displayed in the battle 
of the Hindenburg line, France, in the face of terrific enemy machine-gun and 
artillery fire, and for coolness, courage, and inspiring example to his men, 
after being severely wounded in that battle. 




© Ira L. Hill, Phot. 

Lt. Edward Willis (Jun.) 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



393 



re- 



LETTER CLXVIII 

The Brave But Ruthless Hun. — Heroes of the 
M. G. Co. 

No. 48.— Oct. 4, 1918. 
Dear Mother: 

Besides the letters I acknowledged yesterday, I 
ceived the letters dated 
Aug. 13 and Sept. 8. The 
latter came in good time. 

The story of the ma- 
chine gunners taking autos 
to keep up with the re- 
treating Boche is a good 
one. The ones zve had 
pitted against us fought 
like the fiend incarnate. 
They were the flower of 
the German Army, the 
Prussian Guard. . . . 

Pop's letters are always 
an inspiration, and I thank 
God for him. You have 
never been so close, 
Mother, as you are to- 
night. I feel as though I 
wanted you as I never 
have in my life before, I don't know exactly why. I 
guess I am not as old as I thought I was. I think it is 
the effects of my late experience, for I have witnessed 
things that will be vivid memories as long as I live, and 




J. G. Mallay, Jr., M. G. Co. 

107th Inf. Killed in action at 

taking of Hindenburg Line, 

Sept. 29, 1918 



394 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



I have lost friends made under conditions which make 
friendships last. 

I have one dominant feeling: God punish the Kaiser 
and the fiends he has collected around him. They 
wouldn't even let us bury our dead. I know, because 

I was helping to dig a 
great grave myself on the 
battlefield the day after 
the battle. They fired on 
our stretcher-bearers with 
their Red Cross insignia, 
the symbol of mercy. 
They fired with machine 
guns on our wounded who 
were crawling back. As 
there is a just God in 
heaven, they will pay for 
their atrocities. Perhaps 
I am wrong; perhaps it is 
un-Christian for a man to 
entertain such a sentiment, 
but it exists just the same. 
This outburst was unin- 
tentional. Mother. I do 
•not want to disturb your 
mind, yet fear that I have. 
Alan Eggers showed great bravery and heroism in 
the field, and I have pushed his recommendation for the 
military cross. Tie is every inch a man and a credit to 
his country and to the uniform he wears. I am going to 
write his mother, for I know she will be proud. Tell 



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Sergt. Alan L. Eggers, M. G. 
Co., 107th Inf. Congres- 
sional Medal of Honor 
and British Military 
Medal 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



395 



her what I have written, in case my letter does not reach 
her.* 

I am feeHng all O. K., and hope I shall live to hear, 
as Pop writes, a hundred pipers marching down Unter 
den Linden skirling 'The Cock o' the North/' with ten 
thousand Americans also, singing 'The Battle Hymn of 
the Republic." 

With all my love, 

Ken. 




The First American Tank, 27th Div., to Go Into Action. 
Destroyed by a Mine, Sept. 29, 1918, near Ronssoy. 



* Corporal Alan L. Eggers, of Summit, N. J., Machine Gun Co., 107th 
Infantry. For extraordinary heroism in action near Venduille on Sept. 29. 
Corporal Eggers, with Sergeant John C. Latham, West Oreland, England, and 
Thomas E. O'Shea, of Summit, N. J., both of Machine Gun Co., 107th Infantry, 
responded to a call for help from an American tank which was disabled in an 
open field swept by machine-gun and shell fire. With great gallantry and dis- 
regard for personal safety, they carried out a wounded officer and two soldiers 
to a shellhole near by, after which they returned to the tank, dismounted a 
Hotchkiss gun, and carried it with them to the shellhole, where they kept 
the enemy at bay until night, when they returned to our lines, bringing in the 
three wounded men and the gun. O'Shea was killed. 



396 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

LETTER CLXIX 

No. 50.— Oct. 7, 1918.* 

Dear Mother: 

Your letter of Sept. 13th received yesterday. Things 
are looking brighter and brighter for the Allies, and it 
is the sincere hope of all of us that the finishing touches 
will be put on Germany by spring. She has asked for 
an armistice, and if it is not granted she will enforce it 
by her arms! Doesn't that make you laugh? She has a 
motive which is quite obvious. . . . 

Roger left today for the officers' training school, and 
I feel lonely with hardly a soul from Summit left. 
Gaddy, I hope, will be back when the hole he has in him 
is healed. 

It is so dark I shall have to stop. 
With all my love. 

Ken. 

LETTER CLXX 

Some News of the Company Personnel, — Division 
Underwent the Acid Test and 
Failed Not. 

Oct. 7, 1918. 
Dear Weak: 

Your most welcome letter received a few days ago 
upon our return from the line. I was awfully glad to 
hear from you, for I wondered about you often and 
wrote you twice, care of Springfield Armory, not having 
any other address. 

* At Doingt, near Peronne. i \ . ] 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



397 



. Congratulations on the success of your gun. Your 
account of your work is very interesting, and it is odd 
that you should be in Elizabeth, only six miles from my 
home. If you continue there, run up and introduce 
yourself to my people. 

Now, then, Weakie, you 
have asked for news about 
the company.* I cannot 
tell you much that will be 
satisfactory and still com- 
ply with the censorship 
regulations. You wouldn't 
know us. Jones, Vander- 
voort, MacDonald, 
Rhodes, Rich, Martin and 
Tobin are at an officers' 
training school. Milton 
and Scotty Campbell were 
also sent, but Milton missed 
out, and Campbell was re- 
turned to the company be- 
cause he wasn't a citizen. 
Milton is somewhere in the 
south of France in a casu- 
alty company. Scotty is in 
''Blighty," wounded. Many of the men you knew are 
dead; Gaddy in the hospital wounded; Jun W. dead. 
Have no captain at present; but two of us with the com- 



0^-% 




■t ^ 


{ 


i^ 


; 


^ig^K ( ' '^•. 


! 


^^flfllBlr 


-i 


■k^' 





Sergt. John C. Latham, M. G. 
Co., 107th Inf. Congres- 
sional Medal of Honor 
and British Military 
Medal. 



* The Machine Gun Co., 107th Inf. Men of this company were awarded 
three Congressional Medals of Honor, three British Military Medals, and 
seven Distinguished Service Crosses; and twenty-three others were cited for 
gallantry in action and meritorious service in the World War. 



398 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



pany, another lieutenant you do not know, and myself. 
We have just returned from one of the biggest 
drives of the war. We took part in a great attack 
launched against the Hindenburg Line at one of its 

strongest points, if not its 
strongest. And, Weakie, 
we smashed it, smashed it 
into a shapeless ditch. We 
went over the top with the 
Australians, the cream of 
Britain's fighting men, be- 
hind us, and when our ob- 
jective was reached they 
went through us and car- 
ried on what we had made 
possible. You speak of 
filling with pride when 
anyone mentions the old 
regiment. Weakie, my old 
friend, you don't know 
what pride in an organiza- 
tion is compared to the 
pride those of us who have 
come back have in the out- 
fit. We were commended 
by our own corps and division C. O., by the Australian 
corps commander, and by numerous other British offi- 
cers of high rank, for the magnificent work and self- 
sacrifice of the regiment. It is the pride of a division 
which has unusually distinguished itself. We advanced 
under the most terrific barrage of the war. To describe 




Thos. E. O'Shea, M. G. Co., 
107th Inf. Congressional 
Medal of Honor, British Mili- 
tary Medal. Killed in Action, 
Sept. 29, 1918. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 399 

the battle is impossible. Australian officers who have 
been in the war since the beginning say it was the blood- 
iest forty-eight hours they have ever experienced. Suf- 
fice it to say, the attack was a success, and the division 
was subjected to the acid test and failed not. Those of 
us who came out alive do not understand how we did it. 

I am enclosing a Mexican Border service ribbon 
which we are all wearing. 

Write, Weakie, and come to France if you can. We 
need you right here in the division as a fighting man. 
Your place now is here w^th your old comrades. Do 
this if you can. 

With my very best, 

Ken. 

LETTER CLXXI 

No Peace Desired Until Complete Victory. — Chas- 
ing THE Hun. 

No. 51— Oct. 8, 1918. 
Dear Mother, Pop and Marj.: 

I sent a copy of the Stars and Stripes with an ac- 
count of our fight of which I have written you. I hope 
that it reaches you. 

We have just come from an inspection by the gen- 
eral, who was much pleased with the appearance of both 
men and equipment. 

I am living in a pup-tent out in the open at present, 
and have been both warmer and dryer, iDut it is not so 
bad. I keep warm at night anyway. 

We have the latest news regarding the Kaiser's re- 



400 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



quest for an armistice. There is only one way to talk 
peace with him: after his army is vanquished and he 
has tasted the bitterness of defeat. If he cares to now, 
he can surrender unconditionally. He undoubtedly 

hopes by this latest move 

to cause a division amongst 
the Allies over a peace 
propaganda. I hope the 
people at home do not lose 
their perspective. 

Our colonel is to be a 
brigadier-general, a well- 
merited promotion. Once 
in action, promotion comes 
fast to those who live. I 
am to get my first lieuten- 
ancy. I think that Gaddy, 
too, will be promoted when 
he gets out of the hospital. 

Oct. 12.* 
Have had no chance to 
finish the above, as we have 
been chasing the Boche in 
his retirement, and it took 
us some days to catch up 
with him. I have just re- 
ceived your letters of Sept. 19 and 22. Interesting news 
in each of them. Enjoyed the clipping about Gen. Haig 
very much. He is a wonderful man, and the idol of the 
British Army. 




Maj.-Gen. John F. O'Ryan, 

Commanding General, 27th Div., 

Busigny, Oct. 18, 1918. 



La Haje Menneresse, east of Bellicourt. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 401 

Enclosed is a newspaper clipping. We are nowhere 
near Mont Kemmel now. Lt. Harry is a provost mar- 
shal. I expect to be a first lieutenant in a few days. 

Must stop and be on my way. 

Ken. 

LETTER CLXXII 

ScATHLESs Through Many Perils. — The French 

Refugees. — The Toils and Difficulties of 

Transport in the Wake of the 

Retreating Boche. 

No. 53 — Oct. 12, 1918. 
Dear Pop: 

I wrote you this morning and also sent a money- 
order for $72. I paid 400 frs. for this money-order, so 
you see exchange is not very good. We are getting only 
5.50 now, whereas the exchange was 5.71 when I came 
over, and the prospects are not good for a higher rate 
in the future. 

I did not think when I hurriedly finished my letter 
this morning that I would be able to write you again 
for several days. I had taken the company into the 
lines the night before, returned to my base and left im- 
mediately, after addressing my letter to you, for the 
front again. I have spent the day there and decided to 
come back here for the night for several reasons which 
I cannot mention. My horse was wounded coming out 
tonight. So far I have been hung all over with horse- 
shoes. I have been continually running through Jerry's 
counter-barrages, machine gun fire and shells of every 



402 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



description and calibre, whizz-bangs, wooley-bears. Jack 
Johnsons, pound wonders, Tock Emmas, minnies, daisy- 
cHppers, iron foundries and gas. These are all trench 
slang names for various types of Jerry's shells. These 
names tell a long story to the man who comprehends. 

I haven't been scratched even. I got a piece of shell 
in the nape of my neck tonight, but it was spent and 
didn't even cut my coat. I have developed a very keen 




Ruins of Bellicourt. 

nose for gas. I have discovered that I have a very 
delicate nose and throat, which the slightest concentra- 
tion of gas affects. vSo you see they cannot surprise me 
with the darned stuff. The gas-mask is a great thing, 
good against anything Jerry throws in the line of gas. 

I wish you could see the French civilians. Pop, whom 
we are liberating as we advance. Their gratefulness, 
their joy at being in friendly hands once again, and their 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 403 

pitiable condition brought a lump in my throat and a mist 
over my eyes — everything they own gone, their young 
women violated, ill-nourished, some of their families 
killed, many of them wounded, all of them dazed and 
numb from the terrific bombardment to which they have 
been subjected. 

This afternoon I picked up a small party of them 
and brought them from a town* still partially in Boche 
hands, over a trail safe from artillery fire which I dis- 
covered on a previous reconnaissance, to a town farther 
in the rear.f I was decorated like a Christmas-tree with 
their things — a few clothes, clocks, etc., which they were 
bringing with them. I came along the trail this way, 
with three small children clinging to my coat-tails, with 
an old man and two women. I cannot write the things 
they told me, but some day I will be at liberty to talk. 

It is the same old story from each of them. You 
have read Viscount Bryce's report on the Belgian atroci- 
ties. I don't need to say more. These people have been 
under German domination for almost four years. The 
British and our men are caring for them with a solici- 
tude and tenderness which is inspiring and makes me feel 
proud of my race. All of our soldiers (by this I mean 
the AMies) who are here are repeatedly walking into the 
very jaws of death simply to help a dazed and bewildered 
refugee. 

All these refugees, almost without exception, have 
French flags, which they hang out of a window of the 
house to which they are assigned after coming to the 

* St. Souplet. 
t Busigny. 



404 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

rear. Their love of country and home is remarkable. I 
think the French are the greatest people in the world in 
this respect. 

I have written a good deal about this, Pop, for it 
has made such a deep impression on me. The men 
responsible must pay, pay, PAY for the innocent blood 
they have shed, for the misery they have caused, and for 
their violation of every principle that is just, humane and 
Christian. 

The weather has been bad, and the task of moving 
troops and transport is terrific, but we are doing it. The 
Boche is leaving the roads behind him in bad shape, of 
course, and the incessant rain combined with this makes 
the problem of getting transport over them a Herculean 
task which requires all the ingenuity, resourcefulness, 
skill and patience one can muster, for troops must be 
fed, watered and supplied with ammunition. 

I am killing my animals and severely taxing my men. 
The men seem to be made of iron. Two days ago I was 
for twenty-eight hours continuously in the saddle,* took 
one hour's sleep and then spent twelve hours more on 
my horse taking the company into the line. I was very 
tired, of course, but none the worse otherwise. 

There has been a great deal about 'T" in this letter, 
Pop ; but you will understand. I try to tell you as much 
as I can of what I am doing, of what I see and of what I 
think. 

I must close, as I have to be up very early. I am 
going to see that the company gets its rum issue, and 

* Bringing up entire transport over roads entirely new to him. The trans- 
port was brought in safely, by short cuts and detours, over shell-torn country. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 405 

then away back to spend a few days with the company 
in the line. 

Wishing you were here with me, 

Ken. 

LETTER CLXXIII 

Written Under Fire. — Wants a Fight to the 
Finish. — A Premonition. 

Oct. i6, 1918. 
Dear Walter: 

Your letter of Sept. 15th from Milwaukee delivered 
to me tonight. It is certainly an interesting one, par- 
ticularly your comment on the country between Chicago 
and Milwaukee. 

This comes to you, Walter, from my headquarters 
in the front line.* Just think, old Jerry Boche but 500 
yards from where I am writing. I am in a cellar, and 
wish I could enclose some of the noise going on above 
my head. 

We have given Fritz an awful tuning up, and he 
seems ready to pass off. He has asked for an armistice, 
and he is getting it in the shape of 45's, 6 in. rapids, 9.2 
howitzers and 15 in. navals, which are all screeching 
over our heads and making him duck his. He pretty 
well has his wind-up now. 

I hope Wilson grants no armistice, but will demand 
unconditional surrender, and then talk peace. Other- 
wise, the only way we want to talk it is with our guns. 
Have written home, Walter, concerning some of the 
things I have witnessed on this big advance. Look up 

* Imberfayt Farm, near La Haje Menneresse. 



406 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

those letters, No. 53 or 54. Things I have seen have 
stirred me as I never have been stirred before. 

I am commanding the company, Walter. Just think, 
I am the last officer that is left of five.* It is an odd 
feeling to watch them go one by one until you are the 
last. It makes one feel as though his time is coming with 
the sureness of death. My recommendation is in, and 
I will be promoted if I live. 

Tell Peel I received his letter, and will write soon. 

With mv best. t;- 

Ken. 

[This letter, dated Oct. 16, is the last ever written 
by Lt. Gow. He was killed in the early morning of Oct. 
17th, leading his company in the attack on the Selle 
river heights, near St. Souplet.] 

*After the Selle River attack, next day, but sixteen men of the company 
were left out of 160. 





U. S. Victory Medal. 



408 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

A SOLDIER'S BURIAL. 
From Rev. E. F. Keever, Chaplain. 

The chaplains were ordered on Friday evening, Oct. 
1 8th, to report at headquarters in St. Souplet. We ar- 
rived there at one o'clock A. M. of the 19th, after passing 
through several towns and villages that were being 
shelled in a very lively fashion. At daybreak (Saturday, 
Oct. 19th) we learned that a number of officers and men 
had fallen the days previous, among them Captain Fisk 
and Lt. Gow. . . . 

It was necessary for us to ascertain where the Divi- 
sional Cemetery was to be situated, so as to avoid falling 
into the same confusion and lack of co-operation as 
obtained after the Hindenburg fight. At that time many 
men were buried in isolated spots, tags were lost and all 
sorts of irregularities occurred. The consequence was 
that, when the divisional details came on the field later, 
those bodies lying in isolated graves were disinterred and 
reburied in cemeteries. ... 

At St. Souplet Chaplain Kelly assumed charge and 
Lt. Curtis assisted. . . . On Saturday, Oct. 19th, we 
saw nothing attempted, but had heard that a certain 
field was to be used for divisional burial purposes. 
Sunday morning (Oct. 20th) a party was formed to 
identify and locate our dead. . . . About one mile 
northward from Arbre Guernon, on the Le Cateau road, 
we met the rest of our party, a limber containing several 
bodies in charge of Chaplain Hoey, who returned with 
the limber to St. Souplet and deposited the bodies in the 
field which afterwards became our burial-ground. . . . 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



409 



On the morning of Monday, Oct. 2ist, Chaplain 
Hoey and I went out to the cemetery and found there 
Chaplain Kelly and Lt. Curtis in charge of a good-sized 
detail, perhaps twenty or thirty, hard at work preparing 
the graves for our beloved men. The boys worked 




"Amidst the Crosses, Row on Row/' 

Graves of Capt. Fisk (left) and of Lieut. Gow (right), Military Cemetery, 
St. Souplet (Nord), France. 



rapidly and carefully. Each grave was a separate ex- 
cavation, about four feet deep and quite accurately 
squared. The bodies were well sewed up in burlap, with 
tags attached. The cemetery slopes gently for a short 
distance, and then more abruptly, toward the southeast. 



410 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

Captain Fisk was placed in the first grave of the first 
row. Lt Kenneth Gow was laid in No. 2, work on his 
grave being more rapid than on any of the others. Chap- 
lain Hoey read his service over the lieutenant at about 
or nearly ten o'clock. Fifteen or twenty minutes later, 
when Capt. Fisk's grave was almost filled with earth, 
the Germans threw some shells into the next field. As 
I was reading my service the chaplain in charge of the 
burial operations rushed up and ordered every man to 
drop his tools and take cover. ... I told the boy 
working at Capt. Fisk's grave not to stop, so he con- 
tinued to fill in as I read, and finished the service. I 
returned to St. Souplet, to find that the regiment had 
left, having been relieved in the line by an English 
outfit. 

Thus we left our comrades sleeping on the hills of 
France. It seemed unkind, almost treasonable, to leave 
them, but duty called. 

'We carved not a line and we raised not a stone. 
But left them alone in their glory." 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 411 

State of New York 

Headquarters National Guard 

Office of the Commanding General 

August, 19, 1920. 
My Dear Mr, Gow: 

When I visited the cemetery at St. Souplet, I visited 
the grave of your gallant son Kenneth. 

I enclose a photograph of the grave which I took at 
the time and which no doubt you would like to have. It 
is situated next to that of Captain Clinton B. Fisk, which 
is at the end of the row. 

The cemetery is in excellent condition, enclosed by a 
fence and beautified by flower-beds and gravel walks. 
It is situated on a rather commanding hill overlooking 
the village of St. Souplet. 

I also visited the village and delivered your letter to 
the Maire. 
Kind regards. 

Sincerely yours, 

John F. O'Ryan, 

Major General. 
Mr. R. M. Gow, 

324 West 23d St., 
New York City. 



Tributes From Comrades and 
Friends 




FROM SERGT. CHAS. W. VEITCH. 



New York Mills, N. Y., Dec. 4, 1919. 
My dear Mr. Gow: 

It sure is a great gratification to me to be capable of 
telling something about your son's good work. I don't 
think any officer in the whole U. S. Army could have 
been more liked by the 
men who came in contact 
with him, and it was a 
great shock to the company 
when they learned of his 
death. Some men try to 
act like gentlemen, and by 
trying are so ; but Lt. Gow 
did not have to try to be a 
gentleman, as he already 
was one, and a white one, 
too. He showed no favor- 
itism; every man was free 
and equal as far as he was 
concerned; but that was 
only one of his many great 
assets. 

I shall endeavor to tell 
you of some of the things 

that happened on the day he was killed and a few 
days previous. The Machine Gun Company was located 
at a farm known as Imberfayt Farm, near La Haje 
Menneresse, where the machine guns were distributed 
along a large hedge. The company headquarters were 

415 




Sergt. Chas. W. Veitch, 
M. G. Co., 107th Inf. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 417 

located in a room in the cellar of the farm-house. All 
the other officers of the company were unfortunate 
enough to be wounded and in the hospital. Lt. Gow, 
who was commanding the transport, and perhaps three 
miles behind the line, was notified, and he promptly 
came up and took command of the company (Oct. 12th). 
Happy and proud are not words that can express his 
feelings. 

Next day he was warned of an attack to be launched 
on the German lines that was to take place very soon, 
and he was given a few of the main details, and the 
rest was up to Lt. Gow to work out for himself, which 
he did, and he informed each man of his particular mis- 
sion when the attack came off. The morning of the at- 
tack finally came, and at 2.30 A. M. Lt. Johnson, who 
had recently been assigned to the company, started with 
the men and transport to reach a certain point at a cer- 
tain time. Lt. Gow, with several runners (Kinkel, Bas- 
tedenbeck, Hartert) and myself were to follow ist Bat- 
talion Hdq. to St. Souplet, and there find a way by 
which the company could get the transport across La 
Selle River, and we were then to follow ist Battalion 
Hdq. still further and locate positions from which our 
machine guns could be fired most efficiently. 

Before we started Lt. Gow said to me: *'Veitch, if 
anything happens, you will find the maps in this pocket 
and instructions here." He had his trench coat on at 
the time. After going through some very thick shell- 
fire, we finally reached the point from where we would 
start our advance further forward. It was then about 
4.30 A. M., and the Germans were pouring hell in the 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 419 

form of steel right at us; although I don't suppose it 
was especially meant for us, but nevertheless we were 
on the receiving end. Shortly after 4.30* (I don't 
remember the exact time) our barrage opened up, and 
a few minutes later the German counter-barrage came 
down on us, and those who were lucky enough to have 
entrenching tools dug holes, and thereby afforded them- 
selves a little protection. But very few of our crowd 
had such tools, so the only thing to do was to lie flat on 
the ground. I flattened out, obeying Lt. Gow's orders 
by doing so, and did not look up for a few seconds. Lt. 
Gow was standing when I lay down, and when I looked 
up he was lying flat also, in a most natural position. We 
thought that, after having seen the men all down, he got 
down himself ; but he didn't ; he had been knocked down, 
hit in the neckf by a piece of shell, and died instantly. 
I know every one that knew him are hoping he gets his 
heavenly reward. 

Sincerely yours, 

Chas. W. Veitch, 
Sergt. M. G. Co., 107th U. S. Inftry. 

* Probably about 5:30 A. M. 

t Behind left ear, at base of brain. 



420 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



FROM THOMAS C JANSON. 

Baton Rouge, La., March 26th, 19 19. 
Mr. W. E. Glide, New York. 
My dear Mr. Gude: 

You asked me to write you in regard to my associa- 
tion with Lieut. Kenneth Gow. To the boys of our 
company his memory shall always be with us; and 

should you ask one of that 

Company what they 
thought of Lieut. Gow, 
the universal answer 
would be: ''They don't 
come any better." He was 
more than an officer to 
me ; he was a friend. 
Never have I felt worse 
than when the boys came 
back in the morning and 
said: ''Janson, your friend 
is gone." But a few 
hours before he had asked 
me to guard some special 
equipment. He was short 
of men, and I was only at- 
tached to his little com- 




Thomas C. Janson. 



mand, but to help him was my greatest pleasure. 

In making inquiries as to how Lieut. Gow made the 
greatest sacrifice that man can give to his country, two 
of our boys, Sergeants Veitch and Van, one of the 
former transport men, told me they were lying prone, 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 421 

waiting for the barrage to lift. The Germans were 
sending over their curtain of steel. Lieut. Gow ordered 
all hands to lie flat until the barrage lifted. After a 
half -hour's wait, it lifted; but it took an officer whom 
we all cared for, and as brave a boy as ever wore the 
uniform of Uncle Sam. The two men who had lain 
down on either side of Lieut. Gow called: ''Well, it's 
over now; should we advance. Lieutenant?" But no 
answer! They went to see why Lieut. Gow did not an- 
sv/er, and could hardly believe their eyes: he had gone 
from this earth, but without a sound. If it were fate 
that he should leave us, it was a happy fate that he did 
not suffer. 

They brought him down to our picket-line, and after 
they pushed Jerry back beyond the La Selle River, I 
thought it an honor to take my Lieutenant and place him 
as near as possible to the spot where he had laid down 
his life for his country. Before taking him up to the 
lines, I wrapped the body up in strips of waterproof can- 
vas (we call them shelter-half s or dog-tents) — cut up 
three, and bound him up ! It was done then, for no other 
time could be had; but in this case it was in memory of 
a friend. 

At St. Souplet, where the cross-roads of Busigny and 
the main road of Bohain come together to form a V, 
lies the body of Lieut. Kenneth Gow, beside an officer 
he knew well, Capt. Fisk, of D Company, 107th Inf., 
who was the son of our old Col. Fisk. Chaplain P. E. 
Hoey, of our regiment, placed him there, and had the 
grave registered. Lieut. Gow often told me he thought 
a great deal of Father Hoey, and Father Hoey told me 



422 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

he felt very bad to have to bury Lieut. Gow, as he was 
very much attached to him. It is the St. Souplet Cem- 
etery (I believe it is so designated in the registration), 
and is a beautiful little strip of ground rising gradually 
from the forked roads. It holds one of my dearest 
friends, my transport officer, Lieut. Kenneth Gow. 

To have the friendship of Lieut. Gow you had to 
respect the horse and those ever-kicking mules. To 
abuse his animals was a crime. Treat them half-way 
decent, and you had the privilege of going up to Lieut. 
Gow and saying: ''Lieutenant, it's a long time between 
pay-days; I need some francs." If you behaved and had 
your animals in good condition, you got the francs; if 
not, you got the riot act, and after a short while he 
would come around and loan you some money just the 
same ; and the doughboy is no mean spender. 

His transport was his pride. He had the best-look- 
ing animals and wagons in the division. The boys took 
pride in keeping them so, as they took pride in their 
officer. Lieut. Gow was the most pleased man in the 
world when Major-General O'Ryan came into the air- 
drome, near Abeele, Belgium. We were quartered there, 
and General O'Ryan just popped in unexpectedly. He 
gave our wagons and mules a critical inspection. ''Lieut- 
enant," he said, "I congratulate you on having a one- 
hundred per cent, transport; the best I've seen in the 
division. Tell me. Lieutenant, where did you get the 
paint? I've ordered paint for Divisional Headquarters, 
and can't get any from the British Quartermaster." 
Lieut. Gow didn't take credit for the paint; he said: 
"General, I have a man who mixed about nine different 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 423 

colors and shades, and he should get credit for matching 
the British regulation paint." He should have told Gen- 
eral O'Ryan that the cost of the materials was out of his 
own pocket ; but no ! He was always buying little things 
to keep his transport up. Many a time he would take 
one of my brushes and try to daub around the hubs or 
fasteners at the side of the limbers; he wanted to have 
his hand in it. Many a time he would raise Cain and 
say we spoiled his mare by petting her too much, and 
in a few minutes he would be over petting her and 
stroking her mane. 

There was a time before going into the lines that if 
you asked one of us, ''What company are you in?" we 
would say, 'We are in Gow's Sunday-school." The 
cause of this was that he called us together one morning 
and said: "You fellows can swear all you want to at 
the mules; I know they are exasperating at times; but if 
I catch one of you calHng another an obscene name, into 
the guardhouse you go !" From then on we figured our- 
selves in his Sunday-school. Yet the respect for the man 
made us quit, as we thought if Gow said so it must be 
right. Personality will be respected, even by the "mule- 
skinners," as we are called in the army. 

Our officers in that company were as fine as the 
U. S. A. could boast of; there could not be found better 
in the A. E. F. I happened to be one of five men taken 
ill with cramps, caused by sleeping on damp ground. 
Capt. Andrews, Lieuts. Willis, Adsit, Gadebusch and 
Gow gave up their cots and slept in the straw of a 
billet, so that we, the sick men, could have comfort while 
in pain; and we were taken care of like so many children 



424 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

— scrambled eggs on toast and eggnog to strengthen us. 
Is it any wonder that we stand by our officers in the 
Machine Gun Company of the 107th Infantry? Two 
were sacrificed on the field of honor; the three remaining 
were wounded. There never was and never will be a 
braver body of men than that little company, officers and 
men alike. 

Lieut. Gow often spoke to me of the beautiful valley 
of the Somme. He passed through it going up with his 
transport to the area opposite the Hindenburg Line. I 
often told him: ''Make it your honeymoon trip, and 
you can show Mrs. Gow where you travelled, and tell 
your experiences." He said I hit the nail on the head, 
and he would. Often after that I'd fool with him about 
it, and tell him not to point out anything but the valley — 
to leave the insect pest out of the Somme travelogue. 
There was someone he cared for 'way back in the U. S. 
A., and from what I saw of Kenneth Gow he certainly 
respected those he cared for by his behavior over there. 
I would gladly give my life defending the name of Ken- 
neth Gow, for as a man he was a criterion for all of us 
to follow. His one thought was duty, and to do the best 
he knew how. His transport was always where it should 
be, and at the right time. The Hindenburg stunt saw 
Lieut. Gow at the most advanced ammunition dump, 
right up on the sunken roadway. Going up the following 
day to help lay out a little cemetery at Bony, I saw what 
had been his post during the day previous, when the di- 
vision broke the Hindenburg Line. The dump was sit- 
uated in a little hollow ; the ground around it was a mass 
of shell-holes. Lieut. Gow was in gas fumes constantly. 



426 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

but when I mentioned that he surely had had a rough 
spot to contend with, he said: "Well, I expected to get 
it; but they haven't got my number yet." 

Modern warfare is terrible, but as bad as it is it 
brings out the most wonderful characters, to be laid on 
the altar of sacrifice. The memory I most cherish of 
the best we left over there is of my officer and friend, 
Kenneth Gow, and I regret that I could not have been 
associated with him longer. To know him was a pleas- 
ure, and also to work under him. The mare he was so 
fond of was stolen from the picket-line one night ; who- 
ever took her had sense enough to take along a bag of 
oats, and we figured that, as the thief realized she had 
to eat, he might not mistreat her. That little animal 
knew she had lost a master who never beat her, but I 
cannot vouch for the treatment a few others gave her; 
they didn't know or respect animals like Lieut. Gow. 
He told me he was going to try to buy her when it was 
*'all over," and let her eat her head off on New Jersey 
grass. 

On my return to New York I shall try to get a pic- 
ture of Lieut. Gow and put it beside my discharge, so 
that I can look upon my wall, see an obligation of duty 
I fulfilled, and also see a boy who was one of the finest 
specimens of American manhood I have ever come in 
contact with, whose memory I shall respect as my ideal 
of what a man should be. To me he was like a brother 
at times, and my little chats with him were a pleasure, 
because he always spoke of the better things in life. He 
just knew w^hat the difference is between good and bad. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 427 

and was always there to advise his men for their own 
good. 

In his home circle his father and mother will cherish 
his memory; some little woman, too, whom he told me 
he cared so much for, will keep him in memory ; but that 
little band of men who worked under him during the 
most trying conditions knew the real Kenneth Gow, and 
that association will ever be a memory of the time when 
we lost the best we had. 
I remain, 

Most respectfully and sincerely, 

Thomas C. Janson, 

Formerly commanded during combat actions by Lieut. Kenneth 
Gow, Machine Gun Co., 107th Inf., U. S. A., A. E. F. 

FROM LIEUT. PAUL HELMUTH GADEBUSCH. 

In 1916, during the tour of duty of the Seventh 
Regiment on the Mexican Border, I was first closely 
associated with Kenneth Gow. There, during the months 
spent together in service, our friendship rapidly ripened, 
and by the time we were again called out in July, 19 17, I 
had come to regard Ken as my best friend. 1 knew him as 
an enlisted man with me, as a friend, then as my superior 
officer, and lastly as my comrade and brother officer 
during the momentous months in France. 

I remember, in Spartanburg, when I had at first been 
rejected for the Officer's Training School, owing to a 
slight injury to my hand, what a severe blow it was to 
Kenneth. My disappointment was his, and he felt the 



428 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

keenest kind of regret at my misfortune. I had tele- 
graphed the news to him, and most splendidly he went 
to break it to my parents, who with him were extremely 
ambitious for my success. Later, when the decision of 
the Commanding General was reconsidered, and I finally 
joined the Machine Gun Company as Ken's brother 
officer, he gave me the warmest and heartiest kind of a 
welcome, and shared with me the realization of one of 
our greatest ambitions, which had been to serve together 
as officers in the Machine Gun Company of the 107th. 
Such a friend was he, he took keener interest in the 
prospects of my success than in his own. 

Never have I been so moved as on the night before 
the 29th of September, when the M. G. Company was 
going forward to go over the top. Kenneth had brought 
up the limbers and came over to me to say good-bye. It 
was in a sunken road almost on the very front line. Ar- 
tillery were coming up into position, and both our men 
and the infantry were making their preparations for 
going over. The only light was the occasional flash of 
a bursting shell. It was in this setting, amidst almost 
constant bombardment, that the finest friend a man 
could have came up to say good-bye. 

Both Kenneth and I must have had a premonition 
that this was to be our last meeting on this earth, and 
that handshake stands out as the most stirring and Im- 
pressive experience and vivid recollection that I have of 
the entire war. Both our hearts went into it, and we 
felt it was a real farewell. 

I have hesitated a long time before writing a tribute 
to Kenneth, because no written word can possibly ex- 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 429 

press the depth of my regard for him, or do justice to 
the wonderful character and spirit of friendship, loyalty 
and truth that was his. 

He is to me today the best friend any man could 
possibly have had. He was comrade, adviser and friend. 
He stands forth in my memory as the finest character I 
have had the privilege of knowing, and no other man 
can ever fill the place he held in my heart and in his 
affectionate relationship to me. 

By his heroic death, until in the hereafter, the world 
has lost one of its noblemen, his family a truly wonder- 
ful son and brother, and I, in all the truest and fullest 
meaning of the word, have lost a friend. 

Paul H. Gadebusch, 
M. G. Co., 107th Inf. 

FROM MAJOR WALTER GRESHAM ANDREWS. 

France, Nov. 20, 191 8. 
My dear Mrs. Gow: 

I know how short a way this letter of mine can go 
to let you know my real feeling and sympathy for you 
in your terrific loss, but I cannot refrain from sending 
you this note, which has been delayed owing to my hav- 
ing been in the hospital, wounded, and out of touch with 
the company. 

I had only been with this company since July, but 
a great friendship had sprung up between Ken and 
myself, and I do not know of anyone I have ever known 
that I admired and respected as much as I did him. The 
men of the company all felt the same. He was an old 



430 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

standby, and we all feel very deeply for you in these 
trying days. His spirit and devotion to duty and to the 
interests of all of the men were beyond measure, and I 
know that none of us had a better friend anywhere. He 
met death at the head of the company, which he was 
then commanding, and all of the men join me in heart- 
felt sympathy to you at this time. His death means a 
terrific loss to us all of a wonderful friend, a gentle- 
man and a brave soldier. 

Most sincerely, 
Walter Gresham Andrews, 
Captain, M. G. Co., 107th Inf. 

July, 1920. 

I first knew Kenneth Gow at Camp Wadsworth, S. 
C, where he had the reputation of being one of the best 
first sergeants in the 27th Division. He was a tireless 
worker, a real student of machine gunnery and a marked 
success as a handler of the men under him. On recogni- 
tion of his ability and all-around fine qualities, he was 
commissioned second lieutenant in his company, the 
Machine Gun Co. of the 107th Inf., and was shortly after 
sent overseas to an advanced machine gun school in 
France, from which he graduated satisfactorily and was 
returned to the company, then with the regiment in 
France, stationed in the rear areas of the Ypres salient. 

My connection with his organization began only in 
July, 19 1 8, in France, so I did not have the opportunity 
of serving in the same company with Lt. Gow before or 
during the long preparatory period in the United States. 
I say his organization, because I always felt that it was 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 431 

his spirit which really made the organization what it 
was. He had enlisted in the company before it was sent 
to Texas for Border service, and he was the only officer, 
besides the late Lt. Willis and Lt. Gadebusch, who had 
grown up with the outfit, so to speak. 

At that time (July, 191 8) our organization was 
short of its regular number of officers, due partially 
to attendance at schools of some of those regularly as- 
signed, with the result that all of the work devolved 
upon Lts. Gow and Willis with myself, a newcomer. One 
of the most important subdivisions of a heavy machine 
gun company is its transport-animals, mess and general 
service of supply ; and as we approached the time when we 
were to go into the line, this became more apparent, with 
the result that Lieutenant Gow was assigned to this work, 
with a great deal of reluctance on my part, for we all 
considered him just the man to handle things in the line. 
He had the faculty of working with animals in addition 
to his other capabilities. He accepted his fate cheer- 
fully, as was typical of him, and from that time on we 
never worried about our animals, food, transportation 
or supplies; and I know with what great earnestness he 
undertook and carried on this work. Many nights, after 
turning from one detail to another all day long, he would 
himself ride forward to our positions with our daily 
supply of rations, ammunition, etc. In spite of his 
natural desire to be with the guns, he carried on his work 
unselfishly, and was of invaluable service, not only to our 
own unit, but also to others with which we were working 
in conjunction. 

Later on we went to the Somme for the Hindenburg 



432 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

Line attack, and here he carried on the same work for 
us. On the night after this battle, when the action was 
still raging, he personally endeavored to furnish us with 
rations on a pack animal, over ground which was torn to 
pieces and partially still in the enemy's hands. His con- 
duct on this occasion is fully explained by his Distin- 
guished Service Cross citation. 

I recall his utmost concern for his men, his utter self- 
sacrifice at all times, and with it all a wonderful fund of 
humor, which meant a lot to all of us, men and officers 
alike. The men were heart and soul with him. 

After I left the company, he continued the same work, 
and it seemed very hard that the fate of war should take 
him from us when at last he assumed command of his 
company to go forward. We all felt his loss tremen- 
dously, as only it can be felt under such circumstances. 
His spirit still lives with all of us who were among the 
fortunate to survive and return. . 

Walter Gresham Andrews, 
ex-Captain, M. G. Co., 107th Inf. 

FROM FATHER PETER E. HOEY. 

Church of Saint Paul the Apostle, 
415 West 59th Street, New York City, 
May 20th, 1919. 
Mr. R. M. Gow, 

324 West 23rd Street, New York, N. Y. 
Dear Mr. Gow: 

It was my very great privilege to know your son 
Kenneth very well. Indeed, we became great friends, 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



433 



and to this moment I glory in the fact that I could call 
him such. He was one of the most lovable lads I ever 
met. Possessing as he did a most winsome disposition, it 
is little wonder that all his men loved him, and that we 
who were thrown into more intimate relations with him 
were refreshed by his spirit of gentle courtesy and re- 
finement. 

When I first heard that 
he had been called upon 
to pay the supreme sacri- 
fice for humanity, I could 
not help but feel that I had 
lost one of the most per- 
fect joys of Ufe^ — a friend. 
But when I laid him in his 
grave and read for him the 
burial service, I began to 
realize that his Hf e had been 
given for the holiest cause 
that man could die for, and 
from that open grave I 
have drawn a great inspi- 
ration and incentive to 
labor for that cause for 
which he shed his blood. 




Father Peter E. Hoey, C. S. P. 
Chaplain 107th Inf. 



When I learned of his death I was up at St. Souplet, 
and his body had been lovingly carried to the rear by 
the boys of his company, who there prepared it for 
burial and then brought it up to me at the little American 
graveyard where he now rests. 

It is very hard, I know, to accept the death of your 



434 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

dear lad without grief, and yet that is the very thing 
I ask you to do. Remember he died as he would have 
wished, for God and his country, and in that you should 
glory. 

Sincerely yours in Christ Jesus, 

P. E. HoEY, C S. P., 
Chaplain 107th U. S. Infantry. 

FROM SERGT. JOHN C. LATHAM. 
Mr. R. M. Gow, ^^^ ^oth, 1919. 

324 West 23rd St., New York. 
Dear Sir: 

The late Lieutenant Gow was indeed a friend to me, 
and his wonderful personality and his high ideals of life 
were an inspiration to many of us. 

His was a shining example of life as it should be 
lived, especially under adverse conditions, and his 
memory is cherished and revered by all of his comrades 
of the company which he loved so well. 

Very truly yours, y ^ -r 

■^ -^ -^ JOHN C. Latham, 

M. G. Co., 107th Inf., 27th Div., A. E. F. 

FROM SERGT. ALAN L. EGGERS. 
Lieut. Gow had a fine personality which endeared 
him to every man in the company, and an ability to lead 
which caused him to be honored and respected by them. 
The whole company mourns his loss, and we feel that 
we have lost an officer and a friend whom we will never 
be able to replace. ^lan L. Eggers, 

M. G. Co., 107th Inf. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



435 



FROM LT. JOHN McK. PALMER. 

Aircraft Armament Section, 

War Department, 
Washington, Nov. 27, 19 18. 
My dear Mr. and Mrs. Gow: 

I have just received word from my folks telhng me 
the sad news of Kenneth's 
death. 

I received a letter from 
Ken on the 23d of October, 
which he wrote on the 7th 
of October, telling me 
about the terrible engage- 
ment they had just come 
out of victoriously, which 
I would be pleased to have 
you read, if you so desire. 

In view of the fact that 
Kenneth and I were insep- 
arable friends while in 
service together, I feel in 
duty bound to write you, 
his parents, expressing my 
sympathy. I haven't a 
friend in this world who was as close to me as your brave 
son, a man whom I loved in a way that words cannot 
describe. 

No nobler soul ever wore a uniform. He possessed 
all the fine traits that a man should have, and no others 
— courteous, kind, considerate, generous to a fault and 




Lt. John McK. Palmer. 



436 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 




"Remember you have given a son to a great 
cause." — Page 387. 



ever ready to help those less fortunate. Beloved by all 
of us was Kenneth Gow. A noble character, a gallant 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 437 

soldier of the Mexican Border service, a type of ster- 
ling integrity, always a kind, considerate, faithful friend 
and lovable companion, none will be more missed by 
every member of the company who survives. His death 
is a personal loss to me, and to every surviving member 
of the Machine Gun Co. of the 7th. 

Thus passes one of our little band of machine gun- 
ners of 19 1 6. When our reunion takes place and those 
living of Mexican Border fame (very few at this writ- 
ing) meet at the old armory, Ken Gow, the name under 
which he was endeared to all of us, will surely be missed. 
His vacant chair will leave a gap that can never be filled. 
His character and conduct were so pure and high that 
his presence alone exerted a good influence wherever his 
pathway led. 

And it will not be so long before we all shall join 
this noble officer, who so honorably wore the livery of 
the great Repubhc to which we devoted our lives and 
energies in the humble parts assigned to us by the acci- 
dents and exigencies of the service. May God grant con- 
solation to you, his stricken parents, whom he so loved. 

John McK. Palmer, 
1st Lieut., Ord. Dept, U. S. A., 
(ex M. G. Co., 7th Inf., N. G., N. Y. 

FROM LT. OSCAR GELLETTE. 

(Extract from a letter from France to his father in 

Louisiana.) 

I have just learned that the son of Mr. R. M. Gow 

(Sec. A. J. C. C.) had died over here. I have had the 

pleasure of meeting this young man, and learned to love 



438 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



him, as he was one of the bravest and most honorable 
young men it has ever been my pleasure to meet. To 
know young Gow was to love him, as he reminded me 
of our Louisiana boys in manhood and bravery; and 
I must say that he has done more to cause me to have 
a more tender feeling for the young men of the North 
than anything else that ever has come before me, as he 
was brave, honest, upright in every particular, and like 
a gentleman of the old Southern type. He was worth all 
of the Huns in Germany. 

Oscar Gellette, 

91st Division. 



FROM MR. W. HENRY GRANT. 

Kenneth Gow was a 
member of my class in 
Sunday school about the 
years 1905-1910, when he 
was between fourteen and 
nineteen years of age. Ken- 
neth was playful and yet 
serious. I think of him in 
the class talking of those 
things which interest boys, 
of his coming to class meets 
at my home, and of excur- 
sions to New York, North- 
field, Mass., and other 
places. He expressed his 
Wm. Henry Grant. keen appreciation of these 




LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



439 



at the time, and remembered and spoke of them years 
afterwards. One of these excursions was to the Ameri- 
can Museum of Natural History and another to China- 
town, and both made a great impression upon Kenneth 
and opened his eyes to wider reahties. He was also 
greatly stimulated by the books we all read: *'Men of 
Iron," 'Treasure Island," 
"Robin Hood," ''Knights 
of King Arthur." 

My last meeting with 
Kenneth was a farewell 
handshake at the Summit 
R. R. station. He had a 
way of pressing your hand 
which was more than 
words. No one more 
clearly apprehended that he 
was fighting for a great 
cause than he. These are 
his own words: "Remem- 
ber that you have given a 
son to a great cause." 

Kenneth Gow has won 
the honor among us which 

is above all praise. I feel proud to have been one of 
his Sunday school teachers, not that he was in any 
sense improved by my teaching, but because whatever was 
in him came through imspoiled and proved itself in the 
final test. We are all proud that the gold star on our 
service flag stands for beautiful, chivalrous Kenneth 
Gow. His memory will shine like that star. We are 




Kenneth Gow. 



440 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

proud that our hero was a Summit boy and a member of 
this church and Sunday school (Central Presbyterian, 
Summit, N. J.), not that he was an extraordinary boy, 
though he was far above mediocrity, but because he was 
our boy, our friend and oitr fellow-citizen. 

FROM THE HEWITT PRESS. 

When, in (1918), the fifth year of the World War, 
we bade farewell to Lieutenant Kenneth Gow, it was 
with feelings of pride and admiration that we wished 
him Godspeed on his journey to France. 

He had been in close association with us for upward 
of four years; a period in which we had for long recog- 
nized his many sterling qualities and unusual gifts. Al- 
most from the very beginning he brought to the dis- 
charge of his duties a keen business ability, to which he 
was continually adding; and it would seem that one so 
earnest and ambitious, so rarely conscientious as he, 
could not fail to make his mark in any phase of mer- 
cantile life that he chose to adopt. 

To Kenneth Gow belonged the unfailing courtesy of 
the true gentleman ; and, to those who knew him in- 
timately, his whole personality and attitude breathed 
deeply of him who lives cleanly and thinks clearly. It is 
on those aspects of his fine nature that we desire, more 
particularly, to dwell, for they are the indestructible 
part of man, and the part by which he is longest remem- 
bered. 

Indeed, it could not well be otherwise. Like begets 
like. We have had the rare privilege of a long acquaint- 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 441 

anceship with his father, Robert M. Gow, both in his 
business deahngs and in his home Hfe at Summit, New 
Jersey; and it was evident, to those who crossed his 
threshold, that it was to the ideals inculcated and fos- 
tered in early life by his estimable parents that the 
worthiness in character and attainments of the son, 
Kenneth, was due. 

How well we remember him as he looked the morn- 
ing he took his leave of us for overseas ! The erect and 
manly bearing; the glow and pride of purpose stamped 
on every feature, vibrant in every tone ! Surely the long 
roll of America's patriotic sons could furnish no finer 
manhood than his who bore with him the well-wishes of 
all those who knew him, or with whom he came in daily 
contact ! 

And now, as at the beginning, our feelings are still 
those of pride and admiration — in his achievements, in 
his memory. But, mingled with them is regret — regret 
that is in itself, perhaps, the highest tribute that can be 
offered to the memory of such an one as Lieutenant 
Kenneth Gow. 

FROM REV. WALKER GWYNNE, D.D. 

Out of sixteen men of Summit who laid down their 
lives in the Great War, Calvary Church has the remark- 
able record of claiming no less than six of that little 
band as her own, all of them faithful communicants at 
her altar: Major William B. King, of the Ordnance (the 
only one to die in America) ; Lieutenants Edward Willis 
and Oscar E. Hellquist; Sergeant Wilham W. Drabble 



442 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

and Corporal Thomas E. O'Shea, all of the 107th (the 
old Seventh of New York) ; and Corporal Philip M. 
Drabble, of the 105th Machine Gun Battalion. To this 
roll of honor from Calvary Church I would gladly, if 
allowed, add the name of Kenneth Gow as a sacred 
seventh, because as boy and man he had loved to sing 
God's praises in Calvary Choir. In spirit he seemed al- 
ways with us, and he had often partaken of the sacred 
body and blood of Christ at Calvary's altar. 

WilHs and O'Shea were the first to lay down their 
lives in France, on the same day, and fittingly on 
Michaelmas Day, Sept. 29th, the feast of the great war- 
rior Archangel. Five days later Kenneth Gow wrote con- 
cerning his fellow-officer and friend Willis to the latter's 
young wife: ''Edward WilHs, a gallant soldier, admired 
and respected by the men under him, and always an 
example of uprightness to all with whom he came in 
contact. Trusted by his superior officers, he died a 
soldier's death leading his men forward in a great battle 
in the cause of freedom and humanity. His was a 
character that was lovable, gentle, and yet strong. He 
gave his life unflinchingly, willingly, for the country and 
the cause he loved so well." These words from the 
battle-front, which a few days later was to claim also 
as its victim him who wrote them, were not the mere 
language of eulogy, but the genuine words of one who 
knew his comrade as youth alone can understand youth, 
and as we older people cannot. But my reason for quot- 
ing them here is chiefly because of their pathetic fitness 
in so admirably describing the life and character of 
Kenneth himself. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 



443 



For fifteen years and more I had always known him 
as the same true boy and man ; the same as a Httle sing- 
ing boy, always reverent, always happy, always straight- 
forward and manly, a devoted and obedient son, and al- 
ways loving his Heavenly Father's house and service. 
Long after his boyhood days, year after year, he would 




Choir Days in Calvary Church 

come back to sing in his old place, and in the service 
which he loved, and always there was the same warm 
smile of greeting and the same strong hand-clasp that 
was ever genuine and true. 

It has often been told that many of our young 
soldiers in this war, who had not thought deeply of life, 
its responsibilities and its eternal future, have had their 



444 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

eyes opened, like the young servant of Elisha, to behold 
the unseen realities, when they faced the combined hor- 
rors and the splendid courage of their comrades in the 
fight. It was not that they were absolutely without 
faith of any kind; that is an impossibility for anyone 
brought up in a Christian atmosphere. The secret germ 
implanted in a child's heart and mind may be choked, 
smothered, crushed under foot, but it lives on, because it 
is a divine thing; and then some day there come the fire 
and flame of a great experience to cause it to rise out of 
the dust and spring forth into life. Kenneth Gow, as I 
have known him, was not of that kind. His was no 
buried germ of faith that needed to wait for that day of 
fire and spiritual resurrection. It was always a living 
thing, at once childlike and manly and strong. Long be- 
fore he ever dreamed that his should be a soldier's part, he 
had been fighting another warfare unseen by human eye. 
Ever since he said his first prayer at his mother's knee he 
had been fighting that fight and winning that victory. 

It does not detract from Kenneth's honor to say — 
thank God we can say it ! — that there were tens of thou- 
sands just like him fighting with the same high pur- 
pose, the same lofty aim; men who went forth with the 
conscious spirit of their chosen battle hymn as "Christian 
soldiers" fighting Christ's battle, and "with the cross 
of Jesus going on before." How real in fact must those 
words have seemed to them then — the cross in their 
hearts and "the cross of Jesus going on before" them in 
the fight! We can think of them saying: "Why should 
we fear? He is there before us; it is His fight. It is 
true that He is the Prince of Peace, and it is peace that 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 445 

we also are seeking. But it must be sought as He 
sought it, by conflict against the powers of darkness and 
cruelty and brute force. It can only be won by self- 
sacrifice ; it may be even by the laying down of life itself, 
as did He, not for this nation only — America, France, 
or Belgium — but for all nations, the whole round world." 
That was the work that Kenneth Gow and tens of thou- 
sands like him were given by God to do. With the great 
apostle, as they rest this day in paradise with Christ, and 
look forward to their glorious resurrection, they too can 
say: ''Henceforth there is laid up for us the crown of 
righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall 
give to us at that day." For they also ''fought the good 
fight" ; they "finished their course" ; they "kept the faith." 

Walker Gwynne, 
Rector Emeritus of Calvary Church, Summit, N. J. 

FROM MAYOR RUFORD FRANKLIN. 

Summit, N. J., July 19, 1919. 
To Mr. and Mrs. Robert M. Gow and Family: 

It is my privilege to transmit to you, in behalf of 
the City of Summit, the accompanying engrossed testi- 
monial to your son, Kenneth, whose name and memory 
will be gratefully cherished by all of Summit as a pre- 
cious memory and a real inspiration, for all time. Words 
convey little in such a case. You well know the sincer- 
ity of my personal feeling in the matter. 
Believe me. 

Faithfully yours, 

RuFORD Franklin, Mavor. 



446 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

FROM GEORGE B. HARPER 
To Kenneth Gow 

From 'Tlanders' fields where poppies grow" 

Thy dauntless soul winged sudden flight 
To fields celestial, 'mid the glow 

Of glory, battling for the Right. 

When Freedom's cause was at its height. 
Thy spirit soared to realms above 

The carnage and the flaming sea, 
To where thy Captain, God of Love, 

The victor's crown gave unto thee. 

And when the summons swiftly came, 

"Ready, my Captain!" answered thou. 
There was no f alt'ring ; through the flame 

Prest thou with calm and radiant brow. 

Thy country's hero thou art now. 
And all the world's; thy name shall live 

With those who manhood glorified; 
Who gave the all they had to give 

To serve mankind; and giving, died. 

Honor and praise to thee we send 

Up that far height where thou hast gone. 
While sorrows with our plaudits blend. 

We know that thou art faring on ; 

That now thou lookest down upon 
A world made blest by men like thee — 

A world that e'er will sing thy worth, 
O gallant soldier of the Free, 

Immortal both in Heaven and Earth ! 



SERVICE IN MEMORY OF KENNETH GOW. 

Central Presbyterian Church_, Summit, N. J. 
Sunday, Dec. 8, 1918. 

VESPERS. 
Four fifteen o'clock. 

Sendee in Memory of Lieutenant Kenneth Gow, Killed in Action on 
the Field of Honor, October 17, 1918, "Somewhere in France" 

Organ Prelude: Maestoso. — Chopin. 

*Hymn 370, "Onward, Christian Soldiers" (the Marching Hymn of 

Lieutenant Gow's Regiment). 
The Scripture: Exodus 15:1-13; Thessalonians 4:13-18. 
Anthem : "Hymn of the Homeland." — Sullivan. 
Prayer: Rev. R. S. Brank. 
Anthem : "In Memoriam." (Words by Lieutenant Gow's father, 

Mr. Robert M. Gow.) 
*Hymn 505 (Pentecost) : "Fight the Good Fight." 
Reading of Letters from Fellow-Officers of Lieutenant Gow. 
Memorial Addresses : By Mr. W. Henry Grant, Rev. Walker 

Gwynne, D.D., Mr. Charles D. Ferry, Mayor Ruford Franklin. 
*Hymn 240 (Victory) : "The Strife Is O'er, the Victory Won." 
Placing of Gold Star on the Church Service Flag. 
"Taps" by Oliver B. Merrill, Jr. 

It was an impressive demonstration of a desire to 
honor the memory of one of the most conspicuous of 
that band of young Summit martyrs who sacrificed their 
Hves for their country that was given at the Presbyterian 
Church last Sunday afternoon. It was a memorial ser- 
vice for Lieutenant Kenneth Gow, who was killed in 
action in France Oct. 17, and in the throng that assem- 
bled in the church to participate in the service were 
representatives of every creed and of every walk in life 
in the city. To a large proportion of them the gallant 
young soldier was personally known and liked. His life- 
time had been spent in Summit, he had been active in a 
variety of directions- in the work and pastimes of boys 

* These hymns were Lieut. Gow's favorites. 

447 



448 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

and young men, and it would be strange if in a small 
community like this such a fine specimen of young 
American manhood would not be very generally known 
and his worth very generally recognized. 

One feature of the service was the singing of some 
of Lieut. Gow's favorite hymns: ''Onward, Christian 
Soldiers," the marching hymn of his regiment, the 107th 
U. S. Infantry; "Fight 'the Good Fight," and "The 
Strife Is O'er, the Victory Won." In addition to "The 
Hymn of the Homeland," by Sullivan, sung by the quar- 
tet choir, the quartet also sang an anthem, "In Mem- 
oriam," written by Lieut. Gow's father, Robert M. Gow, 
and sung to the tune, "Ten Thousand Times Ten Thou- 
sand," the words of which are as follows: 

In mem'ry of the noble 

The world to free who died! 
The blood that warmed their gallant hearts, 

A brave and gen'rous tide, 
Has dyed the Nations' banners 

A new and holy red ; — 
Lest we forget their sacrifice — 

The cause for which they bled. 

In mem'ry of our noble 

Who sped with hearts afire, 
Crusaders of a newer day, 

To gain a world's desire, 
Who bore the Starry Banner 

In hope and faith serene! 
Brave comrades in their pains and toils 

Will keep that mem'ry green. 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 449 

They have not died, those noble ! 

So dry all selfish tears; 
The spirits of the loved and gone, 

Through all the future years. 
Shall other hearts enkindle 

And other souls inspire, 
Hand on the torch of human hope 

Lit at their altar pyre. 

They have not died, our dear ones, 

But just gone ''over there," 
In answer to a bugle call 

In higher things to share. 
'Tis ours their sacred mem'ry. 

And theirs the guerdon great, 
Who've heard the last reveille sound 

Beyond the golden gate. 

The pastor of the church. Rev. R. S. Brank, presided 
at the service and read the Scriptures, from Exodus 1 5 : 
1-13 and 1st Thess. 4: 13-18. Mr. Brank read extracts 
from letters received from fellow-officers of Lieut. 
Gow. 

Brief memorial addresses were made by prominent 
men of the community who had known Lieut. Gow per- 
sonally. Mr. Henry Grant spoke of the impressions he 
carried of Lieut. Gow some ten to fifteen years ago when 
a boy in his Sunday-school class. He felt a pride in 
having been his instructor. As a boy he described him 
as of positive character, but with a deep sense of duty, 
and when he was entered in the class he brought to it a 



450 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

personality that furnished a much-needed element. The 
Lieutenant, he continued, won honor from us above all 
praise; whatever was in him came through unspoiled, as 
he proved in the final test, and no one realized more 
than he that he was fighting for a great cause. 

Mr. Charles D. Ferry, president of the Y. M. C. A., 
told of the opportunities he had had to observe Gow as a 
boy and young man. He was always active at the Y. M. 
C. A. Describing his rugged nature, the speaker de- 
clared that those who knew him best loved him most; 
one could never forget the grip of his hand and knew 
instinctively that here was every inch a man. He was 
a natural leader whom all were glad to honor and 
respect. The speaker had never known a more beauti- 
ful, sunshiny character, nor a life that was cleaner and 
more worthy to serve as an inspiration and an example. 
He was strong in mind and body, but above all strong 
in spirit. It was one of the pleasures of his life to have 
known Kenneth Gow. 

Rev. Walker Gwynne, D.D., had known the Lieut- 
enant for fifteen years, from the time when, as a boy, he 
sang in Calvary Episcopal Church choir. If asked to 
sum up his character, the speaker would use the ex- 
pression of the Psalmist, ''Thy gentleness hath made 
me great." There was a radical connection, he pointed 
out, between gentleness and greatness. Of the deceased 
he declared his faith was always good; he was a splen- 
did soldier, not only of his country, but of the Cross. 
Character, he declared, never came to a man by accident, 
but by belief in Jesus Christ. All great soldiers today, 
he declared, are Christian men and always remembered 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 451 

their God, citing Kitchener, Beatty, Foch and Pershing. 
So it was with Kenneth Gow. 

Mayor Ruford Franklin told those present of the 
many visits made to his home by Ken Gow to visit Ed- 
ward Willis, both of them now lying in hallowed French 
ground. If good old Ken was a Crusader 800 years 
ago, we would be glad to honor his memory, but now 
he is gone and we wish he could come back. He told 
of the pleasure always derived from his visits to see 
Lieutenant Willis, and of an hour which he spent with 
Gow on the day before he sailed for France. ''If Ken 
could speak to us now," he continued, "the message he 
would give would be to thank us for honoring his mem- 
ory, but to remember that he just did his duty. That 
was Ken — fight the good fight — and as a result we have 
victory for us, for decency and for God through him 
and the others who served with him. I remember the 
talk I had with him the day before he went to France. 
I liked the boy and I liked the things the boy stood for. 
We miss him and we miss him sorely, but let us glory 
in it. These boys have died as Christ died, to make men 
free. God bless the memory of dear old Ken." 

The church service flag, which has ninety stars on 
it, was hung from the pulpit, and following the last 
hymn a gold star was placed on the flag for Lieut. Gow 
by Mr. Theo. L. Beck. Then with unusual sweetness 
and clearness 'Taps" was blown by Oliver B. Merrill, 
Jr., which closed the service. 

Co. B, State Militia Reserve, attended the service 
in a body. — (Compiled from the Summit Herald and 
the Summit Record.) 



SERMON AT MEMORIAL MASS FOR OFFICERS 

AND MEN OF THE 107TH INFANTRY WHO 

MADE THE SUPREME SACRIFICE. 

By Father Peter E. Hoey, C. S. P., Former Chap- 
lain, 107th U. S. Infantry. 

Father Hoey took for the text of his sermon Job 
xvi, 23, 'Tor, behold, the short years pass away, and I 
am walking in a path by which I shall not return." He 
spoke as follows: 

'T am sure, my dear brethren, that you will not ex- 
pect a mere sermon from me on such an occasion as this. 
When the heart is fullest it does not always find the 
most ready utterance in words, and your hearts, as mine, 
are teeming this morning with a wealth of sentiment 
and feeling which we may not express. Physically 
present here in the temple of the Most High God, to do 
reverence to the memory of those who are gone, we 
are actually reliving at this moment the deeds of other 
days, and our imaginations are once more enkindled with 
the hopes and the aspiration, nay more, with the glorious 
accomplishments of a day that is done. Who is there 
so dead to the finer things of life that he is not carried 
on the wings of recollection to Abeele, to Poperinghe, 
to Dickebusch Lake, to the sullen heights of Mont de 
Cats and the bristling defenses of Kemmel? Who is 
there so phlegmatic that his very blood does not pulse 
with vigorous haste through every fiber of his being at 
the memory of Haut Allaines, of Roissel, of Gillemont 
Farm, of Bony and St. Souplet? Ah! yes, indeed, our 

452 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 453 

minds are steeped in vivid recollection this morning and 
our hearts are joyous with the remembrance of the past, 
for in the vigor of our youth we have answered the 
clarion call of duty and our souls are conscious of a 
task well done. 

"And yet our spirit of exultation is tinged some- 
what with sadness, for victory came only with sacrifice, 
and many of those whom we loved as comrades and 
friends sleep the long sleep which has its awakening only 
in eternity. It was not given them to share the glory 
of return, for their blood was the price of victory, and 
it has not been shed in vain. There is consolation for 
us who mourn in the thought that in the very path of 
death they found peace and rest and surcease from all 
pain, and in the end the heart of God Himself, for such 
a sacrifice as theirs could find no other fit reward. 
Surely for them death is not the end, but rather the 
beginning of an eternal day. Life as we know it is 
but a fleeting time of labor. Short at best and filled with 
vexations and trials, it is but a preparatory way that 
finds its perfection and culmination in the life that lies 
beyond. It matters little then whether life be short or 
long, whether we live to wither into the decrepitude of 
old age or perish in the bloom of youth, death comes to 
all alike with its summons to a fuller life. Sufificient 
for us, therefore, if we live out life's little day, being 
ever mindful of eternity, which is inevitable, seeking 
under God to fill the moments as they come and go with 
glorious effort and accomplishment, so that the seeds 
thus sown may find their fruition in eternity. 

"There is no doubt within my mind that the men 



454 LETTERS OE A SOLDIER 

who are gone, they whom we love to call comrades and 
friends, have found life's perfect peace. For although 
the natural exaltation of battle has passed, although the 
enthusiasm of triumph has waned, I still repeat the senti- 
ment expressed in haste the first time we met around 
God's altar, when the tide of battle had receded and the 
thunder of the guns had somewhat ceased. It was a 
wondrous privilege for the youth of America to stand 
upon the blood-sodden fields of Flanders and France to 
battle for an ideal. And yet more wonderful still that 
the youth of a nation trained in the school of materialism 
should without hesitation respond to the call of the 
ideal and with ready heart shed its blood, without hope 
or expectation of reward, for a cause which it believed 
to be just. Never again shall it be given to our eyes 
to see such sublime courage, such absolute forgetfulness 
of self, such nobility of character as our lads made mani- 
fest in the hour of our country's need. They were just 
plain, ordinary lads, with all the faults and failings which 
humanity is heir to, and yet in the hour when they faced 
the summons of death they were stripped of all these 
and stood forth in all the wondrous radiance which must 
have illumined the face of the Saviour on the cross. 
Men are wont ofttimes to conceal the innermost secrets 
of the heart from prying eyes, they seek to cover their 
inner nobler self with an exterior in no wise indicative 
of their real character, but in the moment of crisis they 
reveal wells of tenderness and depths of nobility which 
even their most intimate friends knew nothing of. So 
with these lads whom we loved. In the moment of their 
triumph they were lifted bodily out of the depths of 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 455 

materialism and their eyes were made luminous with a 
golden ideal. Stripped of the exterior husk of restraint 
and convention, we saw for the first time in their true 
character the men whom we thought we had hitherto 
known. The glory of their deeds, the subHmity of their 
sacrifice needs no retelling. May God in His pity have 
mercy on them, may God in His love grant them life's 
true and perfect peace. 

*Tn spite of the tears which somehow come, it is in 
our hearts to envy the dead, for they have died at the 
pinnacle of life. For them no danger of slipping back 
into the rut of the commonplace. Their moment of 
trial was brief, and we who knew them so well delight 
to speak of the valor and the courage with which they 
met it. But what of us — we who have returned to 
the old ways and the old avocations of ordinary life? 
How are we to meet the time of our trial, which is not 
momentary, but of life's duration? The courage which 
possesses a man's heart and soul when face to face with 
death is indeed heroic, and yet the exaltation which 
comes with nervous tension and the glamor of battle 
itself is a stimulus to nobility of effort. The courage, 
however, which impels a man, without the incentive and 
stimulus of excitement, to meet the ordinary and recur- 
ring crises of everyday life in a spirit of perseverance is 
greater still. And this, my dear comrades, is the cour- 
age demanded of us. This is the test by which we are 
to measure our worthiness to be called blood brothers 
of the dead. For although victory has come, it has been 
purchased at a great sacrifice, and only sacrifice shall 
maintain it. The ideals for which the war was waged 



456 LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 

have been proclaimed as truth. Men have cleansed and 
purified, nay, sanctified them, in the crimson tide of 
their ow^n blood. But now — now shall they continue to 
exist, shall they be perpetuated and made still more com- 
plete in the passage of the years that are to come? That, 
my dear comrades, is for us to say. Today America is 
threatened by just as severe a crisis as the carnage of 
blood in which our fellows died. There are elements 
within which threaten to rend the very fiber of its being, 
to crush its ideals, and frustrate its destiny. And as 
our comrades died for the truth and establishment of 
an ideal, so we must live for its preservation. It is a 
great fight to which we are summoned, and there is need 
for ardent and whole-hearted zeal. We can take up the 
burden of our task in no more perfect way than by 
seeking to acquire the spirit which actuated our com- 
rades as they entered the valley of the shadow. Theirs 
was a spirit of idealism pure and simple, a spirit that 
lifted them out of the ordinary plane of life and granted 
them a vision of the divine. Conscious of the destiny 
which lay ever before them, they did not shrink from 
the task, but with lips sweet with prayer and faces up- 
lifted to the sky, from whence cometh all courage and 
all hope, they entered upon a conflict from which there 
was no return. 

''Theirs, too, a wondrous spirit of sacrifice. Sacri- 
fice of self, of heart, of soul and mind. And yet for 
them heroism such as this was not extraordinary, but 
just the plain and evident duty of everyday life. Has 
that sacrifice no message for us? Does the memory of 
it bring no desire for emulation? If not, then the flag 



LETTERS OF A SOLDIER 457 

which they have kept unsulHed at the price of blood 
shall degenerate into the symbol of a people false to its 
creed, a traitor to its dead. 

'Idealism, sacrifice and the spirit of prayer and ab- 
solute purity of self — these were the characteristics of 
those who are gone. Question it if you will, but I say 
to you it is not given all men to see the souls and hearts 
of men stripped bare and laid naked to the sight of God, 
as I have seen them in the time of carnage that is past; 
and I say to you, without hesitation and without reserve, 
that if we who remain strive for and attain to the self- 
same purity, the self -same honesty and the self -same 
nobility of soul, we shall indeed be treading in the path 
which Jesus trod, we shall be worthy comrades of our 
heroic dead. 

''Ah! my dear comrades, the dead speak to us this 
morning. They give us a message which we must heed. 
'We are the dead. To you from falling hands the torch 
we throw; be yours to hold it high.' It is for us to 
remember that 'the short years pass ; that we are walking 
in a path from which there is no return.' And above 
all to ever hold in mind the words of Jesus: 

"'I am the Resurrection and the Life: he that be- 
lieveth in Me, although he be dead, shall live, and every 
one who liveth and believeth in Me shall not taste death 
for ever.' " 

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Hewitt Press, after a business career extend- 
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